Back-to-Basics - Post # 2 : Fish Balls in Ginger Sauce and Red Spinach Soup

Today's double recipe for our Back-to-Basics series is a super simple Fish Balls in Ginger Sauce, and a healthy Red Spinach soup.


We discovered this fish ball dish quite by accident.  A few months ago, on a Sunday after attending church, hubs took us to this bakuteh place in Klang.  One of his clients brought him there before and he said I would approved of it because it was the cleanest bkt shop he had ever been (in terms of the coffee shop type).

And it was pretty clean, thankfully.  The place was already quick packed by then, and i noticed almost every table had a plate of fish ball.  So we followed the cue and ordered a plate too, in addition to the bkt of course.   The fish ball dish turned out to be so yummy! It was smothered in a light gingery sauce, quite similar to the popular "keong yung" sauce that is usually served with steam chicken or fish.  

So i have decided to recreate it here. It is a nice change from the usual fish balls in soup. 

 

 

With regards to the red spinach soup, did you know that it is actually a hybrid crop from crossbreeding the green spinach and rhubarb? How cool! I've never really liked red spinach until years ago during our holiday in Chiangmai, Thailand when we chanced upon a noodle shop that was packed with locals tucking into some pink color looking soupy stuff.  Out of curiosity, we sat down and sign languaged to the shop waiter that we wanted what the others were eating. The rest, as they say, is history.

Spinach is very rich in antioxidants, beta-carotene, folate, iron and a host of other important nutrients. In Asian cuisine, it is usually used in stir-fry or cook in a light broth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fish Balls with Ginger Sauce
 

• 1 packet of white fish balls (about 200g), rinsed
• 1 tbsp of grated young ginger, squeezed out the juice
• 1 pip garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• Dash of soy sauce
• Pinch of sugar
• Pinch of chicken stock powder
• 2 tsp sesame oil
   

1. Heat the sesame oil and lightly fry the garlic and the ginger until fragrant. 

 

2. Remove from fire and stir in all the seasonings. Mix well. 

 

3. Pour over the fish balls and steam on high heat for 5-8 min. Serve immediately.


Red Spinach Soup

• 1 big bundle of red spinach
• 1 normal egg, beaten
• 1 salted egg
• 1 century egg, peeled and roughly chopped 
• 1 pip garlic, chopped
• 3 slices of ginger, slivered
• 50g dried anchovies, rinsed
• 800ml water
• 1 tsp oil
• Pinch of salt and pepper

1.  Pluck the spinach leaves from the stems and rinse.  Break the stems about 2 inch in length and discard the outer fibrous skin.  Rinse and set aside.  

2.  Crack the salted egg in a bowl, mash up the salted egg yoke and mix well with the normal egg.

3.  Heat the oil in a soup pan and sauteed the garlic and ginger.

4.  Pour in the water and dried anchovies, bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes.  Strain the liquid (discard the anchovies) and pour the soup stock back into the soup pan.

5.  Add the red spinach and all the eggs.  Stir and bring to a quick boil.  Adjust the taste and serve immediately.