If you’ve ever walked along the streets of Hong Kong smelling the delicious smells of street food stalls hawking everything from seafood, to noodles, to Hong Kong egg tarts, you’ve undoubtedly seen these Hong Kong-style Curry Fish Balls. Fish balls of all kinds bob around in metal steam-heated trays of deliciously rich yellow and red curry sauces.
…Unfortunatelyyy, I’ve never been one of those people. I’ve been meaning to make it out to Hong Kong for some time now, and now that we’ve criss-crossed mainland China, hopefully my turn to taste a delicious fresh curry fish ball in the middle of a Hong Kong street with people streaming past isn’t far off.
But my mother is one of those lucky people that has fond memories of eating fish ball skewers on the street and served as official taste tester.
One thing to note is that the curry sauce in this recipe is purposefully thick and delicious. More so than what you might find with the versions sold by crinkly old ladies in visors and plastic gloves. My philosophy is: you want a fish ball curry rather than a curried fish ball. You can even enjoy the sauce spooned over some white rice or plain noodles to go with these! But if you want a thinner sauce, you can omit the flour and the roux-making portion of the recipe.
Let’s start!
Hong Kong Curry Fish Balls: Recipe Instructions
Add two tablespoons of oil to a shallow pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the shallots until they start to caramelize.
Add the flour and stir thoroughly to combine, cooking for a minute or so.
Make a space in the center of the pan, and add the last tablespoon of oil and the Thai yellow curry paste. Fry until fragrant.
Next, add the chicken stock and stir thoroughly, breaking up the curry and the roux. Bring to a boil and let thicken.
Add the coconut milk, curry powder, soy sauce, white pepper and black pepper, the sugar…
And finally, the fish balls.
Simmer for 10 minutes until the curry sauce thickens and the fish balls are warmed through.
Serve your curry fish balls immediately in the pan or on skewers. You can also eat these with a bowl of plain rice or noodles!
Hong Kong Curry Fishballs
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)
- 5 shallots (minced)
- 1½ tablespoons flour
- 2 ounces Thai yellow curry paste (about 2 tablespoons, 57g)
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 2 packs Asian fried fish balls
Instructions
- Add two tablespoons of oil to a shallow pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the shallots until they start to caramelize. Add the flour and stir thoroughly to combine, cooking for a minute or so. Make a space in the center of the pan, and add the last tablespoon of oil and the curry paste. Fry until fragrant.
- Next, add the chicken stock and stir thoroughly, breaking up the curry and the roux. Bring to a boil and let thicken. Add the coconut milk, curry powder, soy sauce, white and black peppers, the sugar, and finally, the fish balls.
- Simmer for 10 minutes until the curry sauce thickens and the fish balls are warmed through.
- Serve immediately in the pan or on skewers. You can also eat these with a bowl of plain rice or noodles!
nutrition facts
I don’t know if this was authentic or not. However my husband and I really enjoyed this recipe. We adore fishballs and were happy to find a new and tasty way to have them. Thank you for sharing x
Thanks, Luney! :)
Thx for the recipe, will be trying this really soon. One thing I wanted to suggest is stating the weight of your fish ball packs because they differ with brands and its unclear in you photos. This will help us adjust the ingredients so we have enough sauce in the end.
In Australia, most packs are 500g but from your photos the packs you’re using seem to be smaller, closer to 300g or so. Using 2 packs of 500g would require added measurements of ingredients.
Can’t wait to try this out, its been years since I last had these on the streets of HK and in hotpot, so yummy!
Hi Peter, that’s a great point! It looks like it’s 28 fishballs give or take, so figure 30 fish balls. That said, there’s plenty of extra sauce in the image, and fish balls are generally quite salty on their own, so a small margin of error shouldn’t be a problem. Thank you for letting us know, though, we’re always looking to make our recipes as clear as possible. I hope you enjoy the recipe and that it takes you back to HK ^_^
This is not anything like the real HK streetside spicy fishballs. Cannot say exactly what flavor was different, but can stay with confidence that the yellow curry paste and coconut felt completely out of place. There was no heat in the dish. Had very high hopes and it was a complete let down
I’m not sure I agree with this comment; I made this just last night and was actually surprised at how close it resembled the stuff you’d get at the stalls back home! I mean, it’s definitely note exactly the same, but close enough. I used the Maesri brand of curry paste + Ca Ri Ni An Do brand of madras curry powder, and I’m not sure which of the 2 it was but there was definitely heat to the dish. Perhaps try using a different brand of the curry paste and/or curry powder? That might help bring it closer to the original flavour.
HI SH, There are variations of these curry fish balls even in HK, but it could be the curry powder you used. Switching to a different brand of madras curry powder may help, although the one Kaitlin used is quite spicy and should be more similar to most of the HK versions.
I was unable to find fried fish balls at my local store. I found “regular” fish balls and shrimp balls. I was going to make them this and wondered if I should fry them first or use them the way they are? Also, would the shrimp balls turn out good in the same sauce?
Hi Gabe, you can use them as is or fry them, but personally I prefer the un-fried fish balls. Shrimp balls work great in this recipe also.
I just got done cooking this and it’s really good. One issue I had is selecting the fish balls. I never bought fish balls before. H mart had a massive selection of all different kinds. I bought 2 1LB bags of assorted fish balls. I put the first bag in and it almost seemed too much to put the second bag in. How much fish balls do you put in? Also what kind of fish balls did you use? I know nothing when it comes to them.
I forgot to ask if you put them in frozen or thawed out?
Thawed is best but I don’t think it matters too much. ;-)
Hi Christopher, there’s such a large variety of fish balls out there, but I find the Chinese brands of fried fish are mostly the same. Look for them in a Chinese grocery store if you have one nearby. Otherwise, try and experiment until you find one you like ;-)
Why chicken stock and not fish stock?
I’m sure fish stock would work too, but chicken stock is more common. Also the blend of chicken stock with fish is just too tasty and more complex.
Hi here in Asia we have coconut milk and cream. Which would you recommend?
Hi Het, as per the recipe, please use coconut milk.
I made this over the weekend and not surprisingly, it was spot on. You guys are total rock stars! Thank you for making *me* look like a rock star for being able to cook this up at home. ; ) It’s almost as good as being back in HK!
Hahaha…lovely!
This looks like it would be a good sauce for baby octopus. Any suggestions as to how long to cook the octopus for? 10 minutes as well?
Hi Don, 10 minutes sounds good.
Hey so your recipe says Thai yellow curry paste but your pictures depict what looks like Thai red curry paste. Which one is correct?
Hi Terrance, so sorry we missed your comment over the summer! Maesri has a few different kinds of cans of curry paste. The one we used is the yellow can. Then they have a red can. But once it’s out in the pan, it all does look quite red and pretty similar. Hope that helps!