The only time when I really enjoyed eating fish balls was probably during my primary school days when I’d order fish ball noodles soup at recess time. Over the years, I seemed to have lost interest in these balls that I used to like because the commercial ones have added flour and don’t taste of fish at all.

I saw some lovely slabs of fresh batang fillet (spanish mackerel) at NTUC Fairprice and was suddenly inspired to make my own fish balls.

Fish Balls Recipe

Ingredients (makes 10-12 balls)
400g fresh batang fillet
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp water
dash of white pepper

Instructions
1. Remove any skin on the batang fillet and roughly slice it up.
2. Using the back of a cleaver in an up-down motion, pound the batang fillet on a large chopping board till the fish meat gets minced up. Season with fish sauce and white pepper.
3. Gradually add the corn flour mixture and repeat the pounding till the fish becomes a lump of smooth paste.
4. Wet your hands, place a tablespoonful of fish paste onto your palm and roll into a ball. Transfer to a plate.
5. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop the fish balls into the boiling water and remove them once they float to the top.

I made beehoon (rice vermicelli) soup with chicken stock and added the fish balls in. I love how firm and springy the texture of the fish balls is. Best of all, each ball is meaty and full of fish flavour. Yummy. Nothing beats home-made fish balls like these! Enjoy!

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