Spinach Fish Ball Soup
This spinach fish ball soup is a simple and healthy Chinese soup. The ingredients are cheap and simple. As life gets busy, I love (and can only make) quick-cooking soups like this. To me, my favourite aspect of this homely dish is the soup – I try to keep it pure and without MSG, so I used an all-natural anchovy (ikan bills) soup pouch that requires only 10 minutes of simmering. It doesn’t matter that the soup has a lighter taste than “outside food”. I enjoyed the refreshing, light and natural taste of the soup that has the home-cooked feels.
Related Recipe:
- Stir-fry Spinach & Fish Ball (Upcoming)
- Local Anchovy (Ikan Bilis) Soup Stock
- Korean Anchovy Stock
More Local Spinach Recipes:
- Spinach, Pork & Century Egg Soup
- Chinese Spinach Macaroni Soup
- Spinach Pork Porridge
- Spinach Egg Drop Soup
- Chinese Red Spinach Soup
See Also:
INGREDIENTS
- Local spinach – use either round or sharp spinach, as determined by the shape of the leaves. Separate the spinach into leaves and stems.
- Fish balls – Use fresh fish balls from the supermarket or wet market.
- Aromatics – small amount of onion, garlic and ginger.
- Carrot to sweeten the soup.
- Anchovy (ikan bilis) in a soup stock as the natural soup base.
I recently found this anchovy soup pouch at a Korean supermarket. It is really convenient because it is ready-to-use. But you can use your own anchovies (head and gut removed) and place them in a disposable soup pouch.
I also bought these natural anchovy powder which is less pricey than the anchovy pouches – I’ll try them next time. You can use anything in your pantry for the soup base – soup bouillon cubes, soup powder, tetra-pak chicken soup in your pantry.
STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS
Place the spinach stems, onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, anchovy pouch and water into a soup pouch. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add fish balls and spinach leaves.
Simmer for another 5 minutes or until the spinach is softened to your liking. Season to taste with a pinch of salt and/or light soy sauce if needed.
Ladle to serving bowls and enjoy. The spinach fish ball soup goes well with rice. You can also add cooked macaroni or noodles to make it a one dish meal, or eat it on its own as a low-carb meal.
Spinach Fish Ball Soup
If you prefer cooked spinach that are firmer and crisper, add them only during the last 2 minutes of simmering.
Feel free to add more ingredients (prawns, fish cake, sliced mushrooms etc) to make this soup more sumptuous.
I’m using an anchovy soup stock pouch. Feel free to use any soup stock you have in the pantry – such as soup cube, granules powder, tetra-pan soup, or mushroom seasoning powder. This recipe goes well with all types of soup stock – anchovy, fish, chicken, dashi or mushroom.
Check out the ingredients and step-by-step photos on the previous page.
Ingredients:
- 1 packet (200-250gg) round/sharp spinach
- 1 litre water
- 30g anchovies (ikan bills) cleaned, rinsed and placed in a soup pouch
- half carrot sliced thinly
- 3 slices ginger
- 2 garlic cloves bruised
- 1/4 onion cut to wedges
- 20 fish balls
- small pinch of salt to taste
- soy sauce 1/4 tsp at a time; to taste
Directions:
- Prepare spinach by separating the stems from the leaves. Snap the thicker stems to 5-cm (2-inch) sections while pulling & discarding the “strings”.
- Make anchovy soup base. In a soup pot, add water, spinach stems, anchovies pouch, carrot, ginger and garlic. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add fish balls and the spinach leaves. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Season the soup to taste with salt & soy sauce if needed.