Sinigang na hipon is the prawn version of the Filipino sour soup, a lighter and quicker take than the pork. Whole head-on prawns are dropped into a tamarind-soured broth with radish, water spinach, long beans, and tomatoes, and cooked just until they turn pink and curl. The shellfish gives the broth a sweet, briny depth against the tamarind's tartness. It is a favorite when fresh prawns are in season, eaten with rice and a fish-sauce dip.
As the seafood form of pre-Hispanic sinigang, the prawn version follows the same Austronesian habit of souring a broth with tamarind or other fruit acids. It is the lightest of the common sinigang and a coastal favorite where prawns are cheap and fresh. As with all sinigang, the souring agent shifts by region and season — tamarind in Luzon, with green mango, calamansi, or guava standing in when needed.
Plump pink prawns floating in a clear, sour broth with radish, long beans, and water spinach. Snap off a head and the broth turns sweeter and richer; the tamarind tartness sharpens it back. The prawn meat is firm and just-set, never rubbery. Lighter on the tongue than pork sinigang but no less sour. Eaten over rice, with the heads and shells sucked clean and a fish-sauce dip on the side.
Timing protects the prawns: they cook in two to three minutes, so they go in only after the broth is soured and the vegetables are nearly done, and the pot comes off the heat the moment they turn pink and curl. Cooking the shells and heads in the broth releases shellfish flavor and a faint orange tint. The tamarind is boiled and sieved or stirred in as paste; radish goes in early to soften, water spinach last to stay green. Fish sauce rounds the seasoning.
Variations
Some cooks make a quick prawn-shell stock first for a deeper broth; others keep it spare and fast. Souring can come from tamarind, calamansi, or green mango. Vegetables follow the season — okra, taro, or kangkong as available. A few chilies add heat, and prawns are sometimes combined with fish in one sour pot.
On the Palate
Where Sinigang na Hipon sits in the Filipino flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 15 min
Bring water to a boil with onion and tomato to start the broth
- 25 min
Add the tamarind, boiled and sieved, or stir in tamarind paste
- 38 min
Add the radish and simmer until it begins to soften
- 42 min
Season the broth with fish sauce and taste for sourness
Watch outSeason with fish sauce and taste for sourness before the prawns go in — get the sour-salty balance right now, because the delicate prawns can't wait.
- 55 min
Add the long beans and cook until nearly tender
- 63 min
Drop in the prawns and cook just until they turn pink and curl
Watch outDrop in the prawns and pull the pot the moment they turn pink and curl — two or three minutes is all it takes; longer and they go rubbery.
- 72 min
Add the water spinach last and cook only until wilted
Watch outAdd the water spinach last and cook only until wilted — a few extra seconds and it loses its green and goes limp.
- 82 min
Serve hot over rice with a fish-sauce and chili dip
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