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June 13, 2013

Why Sinigang? By Doreen G. Fernandez

Rather than the overworked adobo (so identified as the Philippine stew in foreign cookbooks), sinigang seems to me the dish most representative of Filipino taste. We like the lightly boiled, the slightly soured, the dish that includes fish (or shrimp or meat) vegetables and broth. It is adaptable to all tastes ( if you don’t like shrimp, then bangus, or pork), to all classes and budgets, (even ayungin, in humble little piles, find their way into the pot), to seasons and availability (walang talong, mahal ang gabi? kangkong na lang!).
          But why? Why does sinigang find its way to bare dulang, to formica-topped restaurant booth, to gleaming ilustrado table? Why does one like anything at all? How is a people’s taste shaped?
          But still, why soured? Aside from the fact that sour broths are cooling in hot weather, could it be perhaps because the dish is meant to be eaten against the mild background of rice? Easy to plant and harvest, and allowing more than one crop a year, rice is ubiquitous on the landscape. One can picture our ancestors settling down beside their rivers and finally tuning to the cultivation of fields, with rice as one of the first steady crops.
RICE
          Rice to us is more than basic cereal, for as constant background, steady accompaniment; it is also the shaper of other food, and of tastes. We not only sour, but also salt (daing, tuyo, bagoong) because the blandness of rice suggests the desirability of sharp contrast. Rice can be ground into flour and thus the proliferation of puto; the mildly sweet Putong Polo, the banana leaf-encased Manapla variety; puto filled with meat or flavored with ube; puto in cakes or wedges, white or brown eaten with dinuguan or salabat.   
THE GREENERY
          The landscape also offers the vines, shrubs, fields, forest and tress from which comes the galaxy of gulay with which we are best all year round. “Back home,” an American friend commented.” All we use from day to day are peas, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and very few others.”

          The dietarily uninhibited Filipino, on the other hand, recognizes the succulence of roots (gabi, ube, kamote); the delicacy and flavor of leaves (pechay, dahong bawang, kintsay, pako, malunggay) and tendrils (talbos ng ampalaya, kalabasa, sayote); the bounty of fruits (not only upo and kalabasa, talong and ampalaya, but also desserts like langka and banana, which double as vegetables; and the excitement of flowers like katuray and kalabasa


About Doreen Fernandez

93 comments:

  1. we tackled this story in our lesson now in english 8 in (TNHS)

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    1. ay kami rin my God 4th yr na pala ako.haha

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    2. we also tackle this in english grade 8 :D (CNHS)

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    3. Lesson reason hahahahah mayroon kami sa english 8 SPST (TCNHS)

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    4. yes we tackle that in our class!

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    5. safdsfsdfgjidjsirjgfijJuly 24, 2013 at 9:07 PM

      lesson namin to ehh xDD grade 8 cavite natl, high school xDD

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    6. sa amin rin why sinigang,the hands of the black at the soul of the great bell

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    7. sa amin rin ! grade 8 sa TCNHS!

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    8. what is the lesson more about why sinigang

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    9. im in grade 7 now we tackled it yesterday it was so interesting

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    10. Sa amin ganyan sa gr.8 SVNHS

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    11. Same here -.-

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    12. Kami rin lesson namin ngaun to (GFMNHS)

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    13. Bat ang haba emeged any sakit sa bangs....

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    14. Reading the story for tomorrow. :3 (MunSciHS)

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    15. Informative Text ba po to?

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    16. Kami din :3 (VCSMS)

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    17. KAMI DIN SA GRADE8 (GFTSLMNHS)

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    18. pare-pareho pala tayo (SPNHS)

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    19. Add me On Facebook :) Alyssa Madlangbayan :*

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    20. Kami grade 8(VCSMS)

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    21. kami rin, hi grade 8-pasteur 2017-2018(VCSMS)-ace

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    22. How can you describe the Philippine tradition in the essay??

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    23. SAME HERE! GAGAWIN NAMING REPORT TO!!!

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    24. Sa amin gr. 8 Galatea sa L3NHS

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  2. we lesson this in our english 8 .................... ESEP (TNHS)

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  3. AKo RIn SA GRaDE 8 LeSSon NaMIN Yan

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  4. WEwww

    walang talong, mahal ang gabi? kangkong na lang

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  5. bakit po kulang ? seven pages po dapat ito diba ?

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    Replies
    1. di namn baka yung sa inyo hindi sya boud kasi ito parang yung mag importante detalye na lang ehh,,,,...

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    2. eto nakalagay sa module q

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    3. actually mahaba talaga ang "why sinigang?" walang summarize version

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  6. ganyan ang topic naman ea .. maganda i like this...

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  7. topic namen :))
    Walang talong, mahal ang Gabi KangKong naLang. :D

    Add Me in Facebook ! DaisyMesinaGueco
    thanks :))

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  8. .....topic din namin to .....nice i like this..add me in fb ..if you like...mary grace dante....tnx...../////////














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  9. We tackle this in our class ,grade 8 (YNHS)

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  10. Anu bang lesson ang matututunan jan sa topic na iyan??

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  11. syempre summary lng yan!!!!

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  12. topic rin namin yan

    ba't iba sya

    summary lang ba yan?

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  13. ayts! kami rin, topic namin 'to ngaun. . hehe. hindi pa nga lang nai-tatackle. hahaha! :)

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  14. ayt ! kami rin lesson namin yan ngayon ENGLISH 8 (LAB.NHS)
    kaso nga lang di ko masyadong gets.

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  15. as i read and understand the st0ry....
    i have learned a lot,,,
    i have learned how we filipinos are very thrifty,and hardworking.
    for this simple explanation Ive notice that this story is not just focusing our cuisine but it also describe the traditions and cultures as a filipino....

    yhun lng po!!!
    salamat...!!!
    -jylenchristeponsica.

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  16. Ako din topic naming van sa Grade - 8 sa (ANHS) proud to be

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  17. I hate this Subject...xD

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  18. we tackled this essay and it was related with filipinos

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  19. Topic din namin to GRADE 8 (HNHS)

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  20. is this an example of informative essay???

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  21. Buti pala nkita ko ito :) Assignment nmen ito sa Grade eight :)

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  22. grabe so love this lesson grade 8 PMCHS

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  23. :3 yaay! nakita ko dn .. Less0n dn nmin to sa Grade 8 :) DNHS

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  24. just the right text i needed for my assignment. this is good! (from LCCL NHS) 2nd year

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  25. this would be our topic next week,,,pina research kasi nang english subject teacher namin eh,,,got yeah!!!

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  26. LAMPAKE ������

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  27. Lol this lesson wil be discuss by our teacher tomorrow haha..:3

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  28. it's just an excerpt po.. ndi sya summary.. by the way, it's katuray not karutay as it was mentioned in the last line..

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  29. Thank you for sharing this!😊

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  30. galing naman ng poem idol ko na to si Doreen

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  31. AWTSU YUNG LESSON NAMIN NUNG GR8

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  32. bkit kaya sa grade8 nilelesson yan?
    gr8 student here BTW (MNHS)

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  33. ano po ang mga nakukuhang vocabulary dyan?

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  34. Anu po ung buhay at trabaho ni Doreen G. Fernandez

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  35. I-Rereport ko na to next week !! Di pa namin napag-aaralan!!!

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  36. Anong mga tanong na itatanong ng guro dito?

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  37. Guys!!I Have A Question
    How Can You Describe The Philippine tradition as you read in the Essay?

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  38. Are tradition common among Asian and African countries?????? 😓

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  39. what is the pmi of why sinigang?

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  40. Na tackle namin yan bago lng nasinimulan

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  41. We tackled this on grade 8(TMNHS)And now is our 1st grading examination!😁Goodluck to me!😇

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  42. We tackled this on grade 8(TMNHS)And now is our 1st grading examination!😁Goodluck to me!😇

    ReplyDelete