Homemade Fish Ball Soup

Ingredients for Making Fish Balls:

1 Spanish Mackeral (about 600gm)

Solution A: 1 tbsp water + 1/2 tsp salt

Solution B:

100ml water

1 tsp salt

a dash of pepper

1 tbsp cornflour

Method:

1.  Clean fish, wipe dry and fillet with a sharp knife.

2.  Scrape out the flesh from the skin and bones with a metal spoon.

3.  Place the fish flesh on a wooden chopping board.  Pound the fish flesh with the back of a chopper until very fine, adding the salt solution A, a little at a time.

4.  Place the fish paste in a big bowl, stir in one direction under very sticky, adding Solution B while stirring.

5.  Take handfuls of the fish paste and throw it against the sides of the bowl till the paste becomes springy.

6.  Grease hands and fingers with a little oil.  Take a lump of fish paste and gently squeeze paste out between thumb and index finger to form small balls. 

7.  Scoop out the balls of fish paste with a spoon and drop them into a bowl of  water salted with 1 tsp salt.  Leave fish balls to soak in salt water for 1/2 hour. 

Ingredients For Soup:

Bones and skin of fish

Fish balls

1500ml water 

1 small head Iceburg lettuce

1 stalk spring onion, shredded

1 tbsp preserved radish ‘tong choi’

Seasoning:

1 tsp salt

2 tsp light soya sauce

Method:

1.  Pan-fry the fish bones and skin till golden brown.

2.  Bring 1500ml water to a boil, add the fried fish bones and skin and simmer over low heat for 1 hour. 

3.  Strain the fish stock into a pot and bring to a boil.  When boiling, add the fish balls and cook over a slow fire till they float to the top.  Add seasoning to taste. 

4.  Add ‘tong choi’ and shredded lettuce.  Sprinkle with shredded spring onions.