This is how mom would cook fish soup at home with simple ingredients for the family. I’ll be the first to say, don’t expect this to be a replica of your favourite fish soup hawker stall. This version is lighter (but not bland) because it’s the home version inspired by the fish soup hawkers. The best thing about this recipe is you still get to enjoy delicious fish soup without the burden of making fish stock from fish bones.

Prep time: 10 minutes (do set aside additional 30 minutes for marination)

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Fish slices

• 300g Batang fish slices

• knob of ginger, strips

• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

• 1/2 - 3/4 tbsp sesame oil

• dash of white pepper

Soup

• 1 tbsp oil - I used homemade shallot oil

• 1 garlic, smashed without skin

• spring onion, long cut (white part only)

• knob of ginger, strips

• Vegetables - I chose wongbok

• 1 tomato, cut into wedges

• 250 - 350ml water

• fish sauce (to taste)

Notes

1. You can use other types of fish, but batang is commonly found at hawker stalls. You can also use threadfin or grouper. I buy pre-sliced batang fish from Quan Shui.

2. Shaoxing wine is also known as Hua tiao wine, either is fine. I won’t recommend to omit this as certain fish can be fishy and the wine really helps to counter the fishyness.

3. For vegetables, it’s pretty common to see wongbok and bittergourd served at fish soup stalls. But it’s up to you, you can also use leafy greens but cook it for a shorter time.

4. I would also recommend not to leave out the tomato as it adds good flavour to the soup

5. For seasoning the soup at the end, you can use light soy sauce or salt in place of fish sauce

6. You can skip the entire soup base recipe and also add your own soup stock powders or broths that you already know you enjoy.

Method

Fish slice marinade

• 30 to 60 minutes before serving, start marinating the fish slices by combining all the ingredients in a fridge-safe bowl or container.

• Ensure the marinade sufficiently coats every fish slice

• Keep it covered in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes, up to 60 minutes.

Soup base

• Once the fish slices has marinated, heat up a clean pot and add oil to it.

• Add in garlic, ginger and spring onions and stir fry until fragrant. This will take about 2 minutes.

• Then add in the tomato wedges, followed by water.

• Let the water come to a boil then add in your vegetables. If you’re using wongbok and bittergourd, let it cook for about 4 to 5 minutes.

• Then add in your fish slices carefully, ensuring every slice is separate from each other.

• Once the fish slices are cooked, which will only take a few minutes, taste the soup then add your preferred choice of condiments to balance the sweet and savoury flavours to your liking.

• Serve the soup topped with shallot oil and a side of rice & chilli padi in light soy sauce!

Notes

1. Do try to not over-marinade the fish, for example leaving it overnight, as it might make the fish slices too salty.

2. Use a pair of chopsticks or small tongs to add the fish slices into the soup individually so they don’t cook into a lump.

3. For flavouring the soup just before serving, I like to use fish sauce. I did not add any sugar, but some hawker stalls tend to serve their soups on the sweeter side. Some also serve theirs with a strong chinese wine flavour, so feel free to add more chinese wine if you enjoy it.

4. Do remember that you can always dip the fish slices in light soy sauce, or add the soy sauce from the chillies into your soup, just like how it’s usually eaten at the hawker centres.