I chose a salmon version for two, using green beans, baby aubergines, and frozen spinach. While cooking, I thought about the little decisions that make a soup special: stock or water? Fresh or dried chilli? These choices may seem small, but they really shape the flavour.

Water or Vegetable Stock for your Sinigang Recipe?

Many Filipino recipes use water, and with good reason:

• Water: Gives a clean, bright broth where tamarind shines. The result is light, fresh, and authentically hot-and-sour.
• Vegetable stock: Adds roundness, depth, and a touch of sweetness. Perfect if you want a slightly heartier, more comforting soup without overpowering the salmon.
• Chicken stock: Tastes fuller and richer but can make the soup heavier and less bright. Still delicious if that’s what you have.

My choice today: vegetable stock — perfect with salmon and aubergine.

Fresh Chilli vs. Dried Red Chilli

Out here in rural Andalucía, fresh chillies aren’t always available, so I used dried red chillies.

• Fresh chilli: Sharp, fruity heat that comes through quickly.
• Dried red chilli: Smoky, deeper warmth that releases slowly, giving a gentle, rounded heat perfect for salmon.

Both work fine, and the choice is entirely flexible.

Frozen Spinach Works Too

While we’re on ingredient swaps, a quick note about spinach. I only had frozen spinach on hand, and it worked beautifully. Fresh spinach wilts instantly and looks bright, but frozen adds a slightly earthier flavour. Just add it a few minutes before the salmon finishes cooking so it melts fully. Either way, the soup stays delicious.

A Little About Sinigang

Sinigang is a beloved Filipino soup, often considered comfort food. It’s sour, warming, and endlessly adaptable, depending on whatever vegetables or protein you have. Tamarind is the classic souring agent, but some recipes use green mango, calamansi, or guava.

Traditionally served with rice, it’s also satisfying on its own. The soup isn’t meant to be fiery-hot — the sourness is always the star.

Salmon Sinigang Recipe for Two – Ingredients

• 250–300g salmon, cut into chunks
• 700ml vegetable stock
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 tomato, quartered
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1–2 dried red chillies (or fresh if available)
• 2–3 tbsp tamarind paste
• 150g green beans, trimmed
• 1–2 baby aubergines, sliced
• A handful of frozen spinach
• Fish sauce or soy sauce, to taste

Method

1. Simmer onion, garlic, tomato, and dried chilli in the stock for 10 minutes.
2. Stir in 2 tbsp tamarind paste, tasting and adding a third if you like it more sour.
3. Add the aubergine and simmer 5 minutes.
4. Add the green beans and simmer another 5 minutes.
5. Gently add the salmon and cook 8–10 minutes until just done.
6. Stir in the frozen spinach to melt fully.
7. Season with fish sauce or soy sauce, and a squeeze of lime if you like.

Serve in deep bowls for a warming, tangy soup that’s both satisfying and comforting.

Final Thoughts

This Sinigang recipe is one of those brilliant dishes that welcome improvisation. Stock choice, chilli type, and spinach format all influence the soup, but none are set in stone. Use what you have, adjust the sourness, and enjoy a hot and sour Filipino soup that’s perfect for two.

Light, tangy, warming, and flexible — exactly the kind of kitchen adventure I live for.

This recipe is part of my Soup Recipes collection. It joins 25 other soups — from chilled gazpacho to hearty broths and Asian-inspired bowls — in my complete Soup Recipes hub.

Wonky photos, proper soup, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef