Fish Ball Vegetable Soup

I confess. I love fishballs. When they come fresh and springy, I can take about a dozen in one go. So, what’s this obsession with fishballs then? One thing is - it is cheap. I can get them for 10 cents each from the wet market. It is quite healthy though it may be processed fish meat. And it is easy to cook. You can fry them or use them in soups. When using fishballs in soups, it can either be as an accompaniment or as the highlight of the soup itself.

This recipe highlights the fishballs. I use chinese mustard greens (choy sum) to make this dish one step healthier - what with the fibres and nutrients from the vegetables. For the soup base, I use ikan bilis stock prepared fresh and not the instant granules. Ikan bilis stock is easy to prepare and you can even cool it and store them in the freezer for future use. Handy especially when you want to whip up a quick soup.

This is my simple but delicious recipe for Fish Ball Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• 20 fishballs
• 100 grammes of chinese mustard greens (rinsed throughly and cut into smaller (halved) pieces)
• a pinch of chinese salted vegetable (tung chye)
• 600 ml ikan bilis stock (boil 700 ml water with a handful of ikan bilis for 30 minutes. strain and remove ikan bilis)

Seasoning

• 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• salt to taste
• a pinch of msg (optional)

Method

Bring ikan bilis stock to boil. When boiling rapidly, add fish balls and allow it to cook till the fishballs float to surface.

As soon as the first fishball floats to surface, add the vegetables. Add seasoning.

Dish up when all fishballs have floated to surface. Sprinkle chinese salted vegetable before serving. If you prefer, you can drizzle a teaspoon of shallot oil.