Sinigang sa Miso is a popular sour soup dish in the Philippines. It is not about the fish or meat that goes in it but its distinctive sour taste. The most common souring agent is usually tamarind though I don’t mind using lemon or guava. A week ago, I cooked sinigang na hipon sa miso (prawn in sour soup with miso) and my kid loves it. No surprise there as he loves all kinds of soup – creamy, hearty, savory, you name it. And so when I bought half a kilo of fresh marinara mix yesterday, I was actually thinking of spaghetti marinara. I decided to cook it differently when I found fresh-looking, tender and well-shaped okra.

A long list of vegetables could be used with sinigang such as mustard leaves, gabi (taro), string beans, okra, kangkong (river spinach), tomatoes, radish, even green chili for added zing, but I concentrated on okra. As a kid I hated this slimy vegetable but not anymore. I want the kiddo to like it, too, and so I concocted this Seafood and Miso Sour Soup.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo Fresh marinara mix (a mixture of shrimp, squid rings, chunks of salmon and white fish, and mussels)
2 tbsp Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 to 3 tamarind, washed
3 tbsp of white miso
Okra
Patis (fish sauce)

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a deep saucepan. Saute onion until soft. Add miso and cook for a minute. Pour about 3 cups of water (preferably rice water) and bring to boil. Add tamarind and simmer until the pods are tender. Scoop them out and mash through a sieve over the same saucepan of boiling water; the tamarind juice blending with the broth. Discard all solids. Add patis, throw in okra and bring to boil. Scoop out okra when cooked and transfer to a serving bowl.

Add in the marinara mixture and cook on high heat for a minute or two. Serve immediately.

I am submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging (my first time!) and hosted by Dhanggit’s Kitchen. Thank you for the invite and happy birthday to your daughter!

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.