Experience new tastes and textures and try a unique fish ball recipe variation with savory tomato garlic fish ball soup. Instead of eating fish balls with a dipping sauce, make it into a soup with garlic and tomatoes.
Add seasonings and your desired vegetables to create a warm hearty soup. You can have this as a side dish or main meal for lunch or dinner.
What Are Fish Balls?
As you may already know, fish balls are round balls popularly eaten as street foods in Asia. You can typically see this prepared on bamboo skewers and served with a dipping sauce such as sweet and sour and vinegar. Fish balls have a satisfying umami taste with a chewy and firm texture.
Aside from eating fish balls on their own, fish balls are also prepared in different recipes, such as fish ball udon noodle soup, sweet and sour fish balls, and fish ball vermicelli rice noodle soup, to name a few. In my recipe, I made fish balls in tomato sauce and garlic soup. The recipe is easy to follow as you only need to cook the seasonings and boil the fish balls. It is a no-fuss recipe as the ingredients are all pantry staples, so you just need to work on getting the fish balls as your protein and main ingredient.
Where To Get Fish Balls For The Soup?
Fish balls are available in the frozen section of most grocery stores and your local Asian market. You can buy a pack of these in plastic or box packaging. However, a downside of buying pre-packed fish balls is that there are usually artificial flavors added.
If you can’t find fish balls and still want chewy firm balls in the soup, you can use cassava balls, veggie balls, or try my golden shrimp balls. A great way to get a hold of fish balls is by making your own homemade fish balls with my easy recipe. My recipe uses blended fish, mixed with green onion and ginger water, salt, whisked egg whites, cornstarch, and lard.
Make a large batch of this and freeze it for later use. Here’s a quick summary of my recipe on how to make fish balls from scratch. You can also watch detailed instructions on how I made it in my Instagram and Tiktok tutorial videos.
- Use clean and chopped fish (grass carp) that is rubbed with 1 teaspoon of salt and rinsed with water.
- Make 500g fish paste by blending the cleaned and chopped fish with 50ml green onion and ginger water. Then, combine 15g of salt and ½ teaspoon of MSG if desired.
- In a separate bowl, whisk 2 egg whites until it becomes white and frothy.
- Combine the frothy egg whites with the fish paste and mix thoroughly.
- Afterward, mix 25g cornstarch and 20g lard into the fish paste.
- Shape the ball with your hand by squeezing out a small ball through your thumb and forefinger and scooping out the ball with a spoon.
- Transfer the fish balls to a pot of cold water and cook on low heat.
Recipe Suggestions For Fish Balls Soup
This recipe is highly adjustable according to your desired ingredients. I listed below some suggestions on alternatives you can use in case you don’t have the said ingredient. In addition, I also share some optional ingredients, serving suggestions, and storage tips.
- Oil: We use cooking oil to cook the garlic and tomatoes in the pan. You can use olive, avocado, sesame, or safflower oil for a healthier option. For a neutral taste, go for peanut, soybean, or vegetable oil.
- Tomatoes: Choose the freshest regular tomatoes, either medium or large ones. You can cut it into cubes or wedges. Alternatively, canned chopped tomatoes will do.
- Tomato sauce: In this recipe, you only need about 10g of tomato sauce for added flavor and richness. I recommend a regular canned tomato sauce without seasonings. If you use pre-mixed pasta sauces like marinara or tomato and basil, it may change the overall flavor a bit.
- Garlic: Garlic adds a nutty and garlicky flavor and an extra garlic crunch for texture. You can use fresh garlic or pre-cooked crispy fried garlic. If you don’t have garlic but want the pungent flavors of garlic, you can substitute 1 clove of garlic with 1/8 tsp of garlic powder or 1/4 tsp of granulated garlic. This will give you the garlicky flavor without the bits of garlic cloves.
- Light soy sauce: Adding soy sauce deepens the flavor and adds a salty and umami touch. Dark soy sauce can be substituted but may need to be adjusted to taste. You can also substitute soy sauce with tamari, liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or gluten-free soy sauce if you do not have soy sauce.
- Salt and black pepper powder: Add a pinch of salt according to taste. The black pepper powder gives the dish a woody, piney flavor. Freshly cracked peppers or pepper powder can be used. Other great alternatives to black peppercorns are green peppercorns, Sichuan peppercorns, white peppercorns, and pink peppercorns. Each alternative, however, will be different in terms of heat and flavor.
- Optional Ingredients and serving suggestions: You can add some vegetables to incorporate more greens to the dish. If you want more texture, you can combine fish balls with fish puffs or prawns. You can serve this dish with pitta, bread, or rice. For added heat, you can make it spicy by adding chili sauce or red chili peppers.
- Store extra fish balls: If you have extra fish balls, you can store them in an airtight container or ziplock bag. It can last in the fridge for 5 days or in the freezer for 1 to 2 months. The entire dish with tomato sauce can last up to 3 days in the fridge.
What You Need To Make Fish Balls Soup
Take out your regular pot or pan and make sure it has a lid to cover. Prepare your ingredients by chopping the garlic and tomatoes. As for the seasonings, you can adjust the quantity according to taste.
Kitchen Tools
- Cooking pan or pot with lid
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 15 fish balls
- 150g garlic (thinly sliced)
- 2 tomatoes (chopped or diced)
- 10g tomato sauce
- 10g light soy sauce
- 1g salt
- 1g black pepper powder
- 300g water
- Chopped green onions for garnish (optional)
Recipe Instructions To Make Fish Balls Soup
The recipe is super easy to do in just 7 simple steps. Fry your garlic and tomatoes, add the rest of the ingredients, and bring to a boil. Follow my Instagram and Tiktok recipe guides to learn more.
- Chop the garlic into thin slices.
- Chop the tomatoes in your preferred cut, either cubes or wedges.
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add the garlic slices and chopped tomatoes.
- Cook for a few minutes until soft and juicy. The tomatoes release their juice and make a saucy finish.
- Then, mix in tomato sauce, light soy sauce, salt, black pepper powder, and water.
- Cover with a lid and bring to a boil on high heat.
- Once it boils, add fish balls and cook until they float. The fish balls should have a soft, chewy, and firm texture.
- Give it a good stir and garnish with chopped green onions. Serve with rice or on its own.
Savory Tomato Garlic Fish Balls Soup
Equipment
- Cooking pan or pot with lid
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 15 fish balls
- 150 g garlic thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoes chopped or diced
- 10 g tomato sauce
- 10 g light soy sauce
- 1 g salt
- 1 g black pepper powder
- 300 g water
- Chopped green onions for garnish optional
Instructions
- Chop the garlic into thin slices.
- Chop the tomatoes in your preferred cut, either cubes or wedges.
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add the garlic slices and chopped tomatoes.
- Cook for a few minutes until soft and juicy. The tomatoes release their juice and make a saucy finish.
- Then, mix in tomato sauce, light soy sauce, salt, black pepper powder, and water.
- Cover with a lid and bring to a boil on high heat.
- Once it boils, add fish balls and cook until they float. The fish balls should have a soft, chewy, and firm texture.
- Give it a good stir and garnish with chopped green onions. Serve with rice or on its own.
