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Discover how to make fish balls and a flavorful fish ball soup. This step-by-step recipe with pictures shows you how to make bouncy, delicious fish balls at home. Enjoy an easy recipe for making perfect fish balls and a comforting soup.
I have wanted to create this post “How to make fish balls from scratch” for the longest time…but it has taken me so long to do it. The reason is simple: the fish.
Living in Southern California, right off the Pacific coast, you would think that fresh fish is plentiful and bountiful and that I should be able to get any fish I like.
Wrong! The fish we get here in the market are not great. In fact, they are really bad considering how close we are to the ocean.
90% of the fish we get here are frozen, and most of them do not look fresh. Let’s just put it this way, sometimes I wonder why people don’t get sick eating the fish here.
They are really quite bad, red eyes, oozing blood, and just plain fishy. Once in a while you get some decent fish and that’s when I would buy them to cook.
Otherwise, I usually eat steamed fish at Chinese restaurants, those alive ones and swimming in the tank.
Granted, I can get pretty decent salmon and deep-sea fish here but they are not what I normally like to eat. Other than that, I eat fish at Japanese restaurant.
Anyway, simply put, to make fish balls from scratch, you need fresh fish so your fish balls won’t be fishy, and you need certain kind of fish to give you the best and bouncy texture.
So finally, I chanced upon a big mackerel (马鲛鱼) that is great for fish balls so in this post, I will teach you the step-by-step how to make fish balls.
I will warn you that it’s going to take some time but when you bite into a bouncy fish ball, you will realize that it’s worth the effort. I have included step-by-step pictures in the gallery for your reference.
I will be honest I am not the best person to ask about the fish species, so check with your local fish monger if they can recommend a good fish for fish balls.
You can use mackerel (马鲛鱼), 西刀鱼 (not sure about its English name), eel (鳗鱼), etc., so please check with your fish vendors.
Please take note that the kinds of fish best for fish balls are not commonly found in western countries but you never know…so good luck!
You can also use the fish paste to make Thai fish cakes.
Looking for other recipes to use these delicious homemade fish balls? Check out my Chinese hot pot recipe!
Ingredients
Ingredients For Fish Balls
- Whole mackerel
- Ground white pepper
- Salt
Ingredients For Fish Ball Soup
- Fish bone
- Chicken broth
- Chinese seaweed
- Soy sauce
- Water
- Sesame oil
- Salt
- White pepper
Toppings For Fish Ball Soup:
- Scallion
- Garlic oil
- Lettuce
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make Fish Balls
Step 1: Clean the fish and rinse with cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Filet the fish along the bones from the tail up towards the head using a very sharp knife. Repeat on the other side.
Step 2: Get a bowl to put the fish meat. Using a spoon, scrape the fish meat off the skin of the fish filet, from the tail upwards. Scrape until all meat is off the skin. Discard the skin. Use the spoon to scrape off the fish meat off the fish bone, too.
Step 3: Place all the fish meat on a chopping board, using a Chinese cleaver (preferably) to chop the fish meat, for about 10 minutes.
Step 4: The fish will become slightly sticky as you chop. Add the salt and pepper and continue chopping for another 10 minutes, the fish meat will become a fish paste.
Step 5: Wet your hands with some water and take a tablespoon of the fish paste onto your palm and shape them into fish balls.
How To Make Fish Ball Soup
Step 1: Get a 5-quart soup pot, put in the chicken broth, water, and fish bones. Bring to boil over high heat, and then let it boil on low to medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the soup is flavorful.
Step 2: Remove the fish bones, turn to high heat and drop the fish balls into the soup.
Step 3: Add the Chinese seaweed, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste. When the fish balls float to the top, turn off the heat.
Step 4: Transfer the fish balls soup into serving bowls, add the Toppings and serve immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 199 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Other Recipes You Might Like
How to Make Fish Balls
Ingredients
- 1 whole mackerel with bones and head, about 2 1/2 lbs. (1.2 kg)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
Fish Ball Soup:
- fish bones, discard the fish head, chopped into 3 pieces
- 1 can chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 1 oz (30g) Chinese seaweed, 紫菜
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- white pepper and salt to taste
Fish Ball Soup Topping:
- garlic oil
- some shredded lettuce leaves
- 1 stalk scallion, cut into rings
Instructions
Fish Ball:
- Clean the fish and rinse with cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Filet the fish along the bones from the tail up towards the head using a very sharp knife. Repeat on the other side.
- Get a bowl to put the fish meat. Using a spoon, scrape the fish meat off the skin of the fish filet, from the tail upwards. Scrape until all meat is off the skin. Discard the skin. Use the spoon to scrape off the fish meat off the fish bone, too.
- Place all the fish meat on a chopping board, using a Chinese cleaver (preferably) to chop the fish meat, for about 10 minutes.
- The fish will become slightly sticky as you chop. Add the salt and pepper and continue chopping for another 10 minutes, the fish meat will become a fish paste.
- Wet your hands with some water and take a tablespoon of the fish paste onto your palm and shape them into fish balls.
Fish Ball Soup:
- Get a 5-quart soup pot, put in the chicken broth, water, and fish bones. Bring to boil over high heat, and then let it boil on low to medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the soup is flavorful.
- Remove the fish bones, turn to high heat and drop the fish balls into the Soup.
- Add the Chinese seaweed, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste. When the fish balls float to the top, turn off the heat.
- Transfer the fish balls soup into serving bowls, add the Toppings and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- You can make the garlic oil by stir-frying some minced garlic with heated oil.
- If you like, serve it with red chilies in soy sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
You are so right on the fishes found at the grocery store here in Southern California, back in Singapore, fishes are fresh and they taste so good! Sigh….really miss the taste of “real” fish.
Oh! By the way, I’ve got some basa fillet left. Can I make fish balls out of them?
Basa is too dry and not oily, you need oily fish to make good fish balls.
I have found that the real fish name is Spanish Mackarel that makes the best fish ball like back in Malaysia.
Cool thanks!
Tried before Mackarel type and its taste very fishy no matter i tried to eliminate its fishy flavor. Unless naybe its canned already. 100% not recommendable from me. Better check google just i did and found many options to be sure because there’s a various situations and availabilities of having such fish to be use in making fishballs. enjoy!
Hello Bee, I do very much appreciate letting you know how much I love your website! I am from Switzerland and particularly love Asian food, nonetheless, Asian noodlesoups with homemade fishballs!
I am really horrified to hear that you have such trouble to find good quality fish – I didn’t imagine, as you live close to the sea – I think that this is absolutely horrible for you! Here in Switzerland we luckily still find frozen fish, of good quality. I usually make my fishballs in various ways such as including shrimp, squid or monkfish… even also makerel or a mixture of various fish. Yummmy! Thank you for your mails and recipes – allways a great inspiration! Luv Esther
Thanks for your support Esther. :)
I make my fishballs by using a kitchen ware called vorwerk thermomix TM31. This kitchen ware cost around a โฌ1000.
My kids love fish balls. Wondering to make fish balls, don’t know what kind of fish to use. Mackerel (saba) can be found in Japan very easily will make this recipe, Thanks!!!!
wow….never knew it is soooo easy to make one by yourself!thanks for the recipe Bee!:-)
Happy trying and cooking!
Hi,
Can I store in a fridge/freezer the fish balls to use when I want to? How do I do that.
Thanks
Nelson
This recipe is for fresh and not store.
Dear,
Me want to know after make past or granulate the fish,How to presurve it to use long time?Is there use any presaurvative ? And also want to know how to make packet for use one year after? please inform me.
Thanks,
M.A.Sattar.
You cook right away.
Thanks for sharing the thorough recipe! To report my experiments with tilapia and flounder, both turned out very powdery with very loose texture.
I had some of the best fish balls and calamari balls in Macau, so I really wanted to re-create them at home. However, it’s really difficult to get fresh fish here in Beijing. I tried to make the fish ball twice, first time with frozen flounder fillet and the second time with “fresh” tilapia (whole fish). I added some Shaoxing wine while making the balls, but they still taste very fishy.
Couldn’t agree more with you that not to use flakier to make fish balls. Hoping to find a replacement for mackerel, but couldn’t so far.
Yes, Maggie, those two fish you tried wouldn’t work because they are too dry and flaky with no oil content. The key is finding a great fish…which is not easy. :(
Hi Maggie, hope you managed to find the fish eventually. Iโm in Beijing (4 years later than you) & Iโve chanced upon the fish two years ago at #78 sanyuanli fish stall.