Sinigang na Bangus — Filipino Sour Tamarind Soup with Milkfish

Other Fast With Fish Published June 13, 2026

Sinigang is the comforting sour soup at the heart of Filipino home cooking — a clear, tamarind-soured broth crowded with vegetables and, here, meaty steaks of bangus (milkfish). The sourness is bracing and appetite-sharpening, the broth clean and savory, and the fish flakes apart into tender, satisfying pieces. Daikon, long beans, eggplant, and tomatoes turn it into a full one-pot meal. It is the kind of bowl that warms you from the inside on a fish day and leaves you genuinely nourished.

This is a fish-day dish (Annunciation, Palm Sunday, and other days when fish is blessed). To keep it within oil-day or strict bounds instead, leave out the fish and build the soup on cubed firm tofu and extra beans — it remains a complete, sour, satisfying soup. The broth itself uses no oil, so the tofu version sits comfortably on strict cooked-food days.

FASTING LEVEL: Fast With Fish (tofu version for other days — see notes)
SERVINGS: 4
TIME: 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

- 500g milkfish (bangus) or any firm white fish, cut into 4 steaks
- 8 cups water
- 2 tomatoes, quartered
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 daikon radish, peeled and sliced into rounds
- 40g tamarind soup base (1 sachet), or 1/4 cup tamarind paste
- 200g long beans or green beans, cut into 5cm lengths
- 1 Asian eggplant, sliced into rounds
- 2 cups water spinach (kangkong) or regular spinach
- 2-3 long green chilies (siling haba), left whole
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce, or soy sauce for vegan broth
- Salt, to taste
- Steamed rice, to serve

METHOD

1. In a large pot, bring the water to a boil with the tomatoes and onion. Simmer for 10 minutes until the tomatoes have softened and started to break down, lending color to the broth.

2. Add the daikon and the tamarind base. Simmer for 8 minutes until the daikon is nearly tender and the broth turns pleasantly sour. Taste and add more tamarind if you like it sharper.

3. Add the long beans, eggplant, and whole chilies. Simmer for 4 minutes.

4. Slide in the fish steaks and cook gently for 6-8 minutes, without stirring much, until the fish is opaque and flakes easily. (Tofu version: add cubed firm tofu instead and simmer 5 minutes.)

5. Stir in the fish sauce and add the water spinach in the last minute, just until wilted. Season with salt to taste — the balance should be clearly sour, savory, and light.

6. Ladle into deep bowls, making sure each gets fish and a share of vegetables. Serve with steamed rice, which is meant to be eaten alongside, soaking up the broth.

NOTES

- Strict and oil-day version: omit the fish, use soy sauce in place of fish sauce, and add 1 block of cubed firm tofu plus extra beans for a complete sour soup with no oil.
- The tamarind sourness is the soul of sinigang. Fresh tamarind, tamarind paste, or even green mango or calamansi all work; adjust to your taste.
- Other classic vegetables include okra and taro — add taro with the daikon as it needs longer to soften.
- Leftover broth is even more flavorful the next day; reheat gently so the fish doesn't toughen.