Katmon Vegetable Sinigang

Updated January 28, 2023

Both the fruit Katmon and the dish Sinigang were once intimidating to me, but I’ve gotten to know both by making Sinigang na Katmon. Sinigang, like adobo, is quite ubiquitous in the country. It’s just that not all sour dishes are called sinigang, but sour or acid-based sabaws are easy to find. 

Sinigang recipes nowadays typically call for sampaloc or tamarind, green mango or hilaw ng mangga, or even guava or tomatoes. Or if you’re really stuck, you can go for a Sinigang mix. There is actually a katmon sinigang mix too, like in my recipe for fish sinigang using pompano and katmon powder. To be honest, any fruit or vegetable with sourness will make you a good sinigang. Calamansi, vinegar, tomatoes, and patis are some of the most basic souring agents you can use. 

You also don’t need meat, though the most popular sinigang recipes are Sinigang na Baboy or Sinigang na Isda. This recipe is a vegetable sinigang, but it’s also a vegan one since I didn’t use patis. 

Katmon (Dillenia philippinensis)

The Philippines is home to around 10,000 species of plants, so it’s no wonder how Filipinos were able to conjure up so many ways to sour their soups throughout the millennia. Katmon is a small tree native to the country, and if you’re lucky to see one up close, its fruit and flowers are quite beautiful.

Katmon fruit are quite succulent and sour, and still tasty enough when eaten raw. The ribbed fruit is enveloped by rigid green pedals that can be left on for sinigang. Though native to the Philippines, they’re actually hard to find. It is easier to find tamarind, guava, kamias, and manggo trees, and if someone wants sinigang right away, a packet of sinigang mix is much more readily available.

Which is why I was lucky to find someone online with Katmon fruit and seeds. I was browsing on the Philippine Native Tree Enthusiasts group on Facebook when someone had advertised that they had seeds available. Sir. Oslec was not only nice enough to sell me some seeds, but he also threw in some fresh Katmon fruit from his trees as well.

Ingredients

• 1 onion.
• 4 medium tomatoes, sliced.
• 4 katmon fruits, sliced.
  • Substitutes:
    • 1 green unripe mango, sliced. Or,
    • 1/2 cup calamansi juice. Or,
    • 2 unripe guavas, cut in chunks, pre-boiled and then mashed to pulp. Or,
    • 8 sampaloc or tamarind pods, pre-boiled and mashed to pulp, then separated from resulting broth. Or,
    • 1 pack sinigang mix.
• 1 bunch of sitaw or long beans, chopped inch-long pieces.
• 2 medium-sized gabi or taro, cut into chunks.
• 1 large eggplant, cut into chunks.
• 5 okra, chopped.
• 3 siling haba or green chili pepper, as is.
• 3 bok choy or pechay.
• ½ bunch kang-kong or any spinach.
• Vegetable oil.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions

1. Oil your pot, place at medium heat.
2. Sautee the onions, tomato, and katmon (or whatever sour fruit you are using). If you prepared sampaloc, add the broth later.
3. Add the sitaw and gabi or taro, mix and sautee together.
4. Fill the pot with water, add salt and pepper, and let simmer (add your sampaloc broth here if you’re using that).
5. Add okra and eggplant.
6. Add kang-kong or spinach, bok choy or pechay, and siling haba.
7. Stir until gabi has softened. Add salt accordingly.
8. Serve with rice.

Tips

• Prep your rice before cooking so you can add rice wash or “hugas-bigas” to the sinigang. This makes the soup even thicker and flavorful.
• Add more tomato or other souring fruit to add more “punch”.
• Add more gabi to make the soup thicker.

Importance of Native Trees

The Philippines is now down to about 24% forest cover, which is down from an initial 75% during the 1900s. Unfortunately any attempts to replant or bring back its forests usually involved trees that never even existed here. Planting these “exotic” trees created forests with little to no biodiversity, as noticed in the “man-made” forests of Bohol.

Unlike native trees, exotic trees give little to no contribution to local ecosystems since they did not evolve there. Oftentimes they can be harmful to an ecosystem, as is the case with exotic mahogany trees planted in the Philippines. 

Cooking with local ingredients is one way people can revive a need to sustain native species. Ultimately, proper implementation of environmental laws, and the updating of old archaic ones, is the long and final solution to ensuring local food sources are available for years to come.

More links about native trees

• Tree hugging the Bagras (aka Mindanao Gum, Rainbow Gum).
• Pinto Art Museum Arboretum.

Katmon sinigang timelapse, including Katmon art