Silver Fish Omelette

This is a homely recipe for silver fish omelette (银鱼蛋) that’s whipped up with very few ingredients, and goes well with both porridge and rice. You can add tomatoes, onions or carrots to the beaten egg mixture to make it more sumptuous, but this basic version will work well any day, especially when the fridge is low on supplies.

More Homely Chinese Omelette Recipes:

Silver Fish Omelette Recipe
I had my silver fish eggs with brown rice porridge (in the background).  If served with rice instead, I will dab the egg with some homemade sambal or cincalok chilli for more flavour.

Silver Fish Omelette Recipe

Silver Fish (White Bait)

Silver fish, in this recipe, is also known as whitebait. Of course, it’s not to be confused with that household bug with the same name (eeks). “Silver fish” (literally translated from the Chinese name “银鱼”) is simply how this edible fish is usually labelled locally. Pictured above is my plate of cleaned raw silver fish, before seasoning. I bought a 150 grams pack from the supermarket which is conveniently thawed from frozen. The thawed version can be brought from Sheng Siong and Mahota supermarkets. My recipe uses one small packet of silver fish with 4 eggs. I admit that the fish looks very scary in this state with the creepy eyes, so much so that I need my family’s help to marinade them. If you have the same problem as me, buy smaller ones and they will be easier on the eye to handle.

Silver Fish (White Bait) Omelette

This is a savoury omelette which goes well with both porridge and rice. You can also add diced tomato, onion and/or diced carrot to the eggs mixture to make it more sumptuous.

Ingredients:

  • 150g silver fish (white bait/银鱼)
  • 4 eggs
  • chopped spring onions to garnish

(A) Marinade for Silver Fish

  • 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 3 dashes white pepper powder to taste

(B) Seasonings for Egg

  • 2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 3 dashes white pepper powder to taste

Directions:

  1. Prepare silver fish. Wash silver fish and rinse through a sieve. Drain and pat dry on paper towels. Place silver fish in a bowl and marinade with (A) for about 15 minutes in the fridge.
  2. Prepare egg mixture. Crack the eggs into a bowl and season with (B). Beat well.
  3. Make the omelette. Heat oil in a large wokpan. Add silver fish and stir fry until they just turn opaque-white. Distribute the silver fish evenly across the pan using a spatula, then pour in egg mixture. Before the egg sets, scramble the eggs and tilt the wok to ensure the silver fish are well coated in the egg. When the eggs are set, flip omelette to the other side and cook briefly. Use spatula to break the omelette to smaller serving pieces.  Garnish with chopped spring onions.