There’s nothing better than a nice hot bowl of soup after a few days of curry and spice. This fishball soup is my kids’ favorite and I enjoy cooking it because it’s a one dish meal served with rice or macaroni. I especially enjoy cooking it because it takes me 15 minutes flat to prepare it and on days when  I don’t feel very up to clanking the pots and pans and cooking up a storm in the kitchen, this is THE dish. There’s simply something fun about the fishballs bobbing in the pool of soup and biting into the soft springy fishballs makes it all the more enjoyable.

Now, if you’re expecting to read how I make the fishballs, then let me tell you that you will be sorely disappointed. I don’t bother making the fishballs myself. There’s just too much fuss over preparing the fish, deboning it and then making the balls. I’d rather spend that time doing something I enjoy so I buy ready made Dodo fishballs from the Asian store.

Ingredients:
20 fishballs
1 large potato - cut into 6 parts
2 medium sized carrots - cut approx as long as the potatoes/ about 3 inch long
2 tomatoes - cut into 4 wedges
1 bundle of vermicelli - soak in tap water while you cut the stuff up (See Lodeh Soo Hoon)
1 box of silken tofu (for soups) - cut into 6
1/2 onion - sliced thinly
1 garlic - chopped or smashed
1 tbsp light soy sauce
white pepper to taste
salt to taste
water
1 tbsp oil

Garnish:
roughly chopped spring onions
roughly chopped cilantro
fried shallots

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pot. Fry onions and garlic until fragrant but not brown.
2. Add in the potatoes and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add water until it comes up to 1/4 inch above the potatoes. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the potatoes are 1/2 cooked.
4. Add the carrots. Cook simmered until the carrots are 3/4 cooked.
5. Add the vermicelli. Stir to distribute the vermicelli.
6. Add the salt, pepper, light soy sauce. Stir.
7. Add the fishballs, tofu and 3 slices of the tomatoes. Bring to a boil.
8. Lower heat, add the rest of the tomatoes. Cook for another 2 minutes.
9. When serving, sprinkle the garnish. Serve hot with rice or boiled macaroni.

Tips:

• You can add other vegetables.
• Don’t stir after adding the tofu or it might break up into pieces. If you must stir, use a ladle to slow push the food around in a clockwise/anti-clockwise manner
• If little kids are eating the fishballs, it would be best to cut the fishballs into smaller pieces when serving to avoid choking accidents.