Fish Singigang - Filipino Sour Broth Dish

I made chicken pad Thai a few months ago.  I had wanted to make it for months but was unable to find tamarind paste.  I was with friends shopping when I saw a Korean grocery store.  

The grocery store had an entire isle full of oils, sauces, and pastes.  After scouring the isle for several minutes, I found a block of tamarind paste.  I was pretty proud of myself.  I celebrate small and insignificant successes in life.  

After using a few teaspoons of tamarind, I had almost an entire block remaining.  What do you do with tamarind paste?

The Goan shrimp curry I posted recently requires tamarind paste.  It was absolutely delicious by the way.  Through Wikipedia I learned that it is used throughout the world for both sweet and savory dishes.  

In Kenya it is eaten with legumes, Mexicans use it for agua fresca and in some mole recipes, in the Middle East it is used in meat-based stews, and in the Yunnan province of China it's used to make jam and chilled drinks.  The list of uses goes on and on.

This soup is from the Philippines.  I found the recipe on allrecipes.com.  I used salmon instead of tilapia because I found salmon on sale.  I couldn't find daikon radishes, so I used the regular red radishes.  The ingredients are 1 pound salmon fillets, 2 small heads bok choy, 5 medium tomatoes, 2 cups sliced radishes, 1/2 cup tamarind paste, 6 cups water, and 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes.

I added the tamarind paste and water into a pot.  I turned the stove on medium heat.

I added the red pepper flakes and radishes.  I could have used a little more heat, so I suggest using more than a teaspoon.

I added the chopped tomatoes and bok choy.  By this time the water was simmering.

I added chunks of salmon.  I let this simmer for five to ten minutes.  I added some salt and pepper to taste.

After only ten minutes of cooking, it was ready to be eaten.  This is a speedy meal!

 The soup was sweet and sour.  It was a little spicy, but I wanted more heat.

It is healthy with all the vegetables and fish.  I imagine a bowl has around 200 calories.

This is soup was good but not outstanding.  Even with the red chile flakes and tamarind paste, it seemed a little bland.

 I ate all of the soup, but I'll look for another recipe in the future.