sinigang na hipon ( sour shrimp soup )

One of the best things I like about where we are is having the privilege of getting fresh seafood anytime of the year. Although I don't cook shrimps often, considering that my husband is allergic to them, I do have desperate cravings for them. Whenever we go out to eat is the ideal time when I usually get them in a dish to fix my 'shrimp withdrawal symptoms' :) This sour soup with shrimps ( along with other sour soup versions and favorites from the Philippines using fish and/or pork ) gets top billing usually when the holiday season is over and after all the rich holiday food consumption. This is also one reason why the price of seafood at the local markets escalates after the holidays when the law of supply and demand takes over. But still there's nothing more satisfying than the taste of the hot and sour broth of this shrimp soup. It's usually flavored with sour tamarind, I know there are some who still take the time and effort to make the tamarind extraction, boiling fresh tamarind fruit until tender then mashing them, to get the pure tamarind taste, without all the preservatives. But fresh tamarind fruit is not always available so many of us now rely on convenient instant tamarind soup base packets, like Knorr and Mama Sita's brands. There are other local fruits like guava and "kamias" ( a sour fruit very similar in texture and taste to the starfruit ) which may be used for sinigang. I usually like my sinigang very tart and it's easy to make it the way you like it with the soup base. Vegetables like white radish, stringbeans or cut-up green beans and other green leafy vegetable like green leaf lettuce, etc. are usually added to the soup last. It's best served steaming hot and definitely not just after the holidays!

fresh shrimps from the local seafood market