-
Fu zhou fish balls and dreams of our fathers
Fish balls probably won't become as popular in the U.S. as egg rolls and pork fried rice. One thing is that most of the time, fish balls don't even taste like fish as the name would suggest. They sort of taste like um... the solidified version of finely ground fish meat. I know what you're thinking that this couldn't possibly be delicious, but in fact this is one of the most popular type of street food throughout south east Asia. You often find it in soups or in skewers that's then served with some sort of dipping sauce. Sometimes you see them stewed or braised in curry broth to impart curry flavor to the fish ball. It's one of those very Asian things that'll probably stay very Asian for years to come. And amongst all these fish balls, there's one type that's different than the rest, one that stands out because it comes with a pork filling. Everything tastes better with a filling.
Fuzhou fish balls are different than regular fish balls because they contain a meaty filling in the middle. Fuzhou is a province in south east China. Actually, my grandfather was from the Fuzhou. He must have passed on his appreciate of Fuzhou fish balls to my father, who then passed it onto me. I'm pretty fond of these things, but when you grow up in the middle of America, it's pretty difficult to find fuzhou fish balls. Nowadays, it's simple, just walk down Eldridge Street and you see Fuzhou places everywhere. Most of these handpulled noodle places have fuzhou fish balls on the menu. It's usually pretty cheap too, something like $3 dollars for a bowl of 10 or so fish falls. The ones you see here are from Super Taste.
In between the hand-pulled noodle places and Fuzhou restaurants on Eldridge street, you find internet cafés, pirated dvd stores, and random barber shops. I can't but wonder whether my grandfather, if he was alive today, would want to chase the American dream here in New York like these immigrants. I wonder if he would approve of these fish balls.
Since my frame of reference is from eating frozen fuzhou fish balls, it's very difficult for me to declare what's good or bad about fuzhou fish balls. If I judge these by whether they possessed any fish taste? Then these would fail. But are fish balls supposed to taste like fish? In my experience, they hardly ever taste like anything. They really only taste like something when you dip it in a sauce. They are like vessels for dipping sauces.
The novelty of the thing kind of wore off after the 6th fish ball and it left me wanting to find a new place for fuzhou fish balls. I guess if you're not a fish ball person, this wouldn't transform you into one. I just happen to have fuzhou fish balls in my blood. I must seek out more of these things. I saw some other places with fish balls on Robyn and Kathy's blog. I've been to Sheng Wang and Lam Zhou for hand-pulled noodles, but not for fuzhou fish balls. Next week I shall report back with an update on my findings!
Super Taste
26 Eldridge Street.
New York, NY 10002
(212) 625-1198
Map
Like what you've read today? Subscribe to my RSS and never miss a post!Posted by Danny on February 23 2009 at 11:29 am
Other Suggested Reading
- Share:
I've been trying to find those. I haven't had them in years! Do yo know of any places that sell them frozen so I can enjoy those lovely stuffed fish balls at home?
Heidi on February 23 2009 at 12:45 pm
Fishballs are my favorite! I agree, they are tiring though if you order just fishballs. I'd order a mix of noodles and fishballs if I were you.
@Heidi They sell frozen ones at Sheng Wang and also at Hong Kong supermarket if you are based in NYC.
bionicgrrrl on February 23 2009 at 2:08 pm
@Heidi,
You know, I think all the hand-pulled noodle places will have them frozen. They all have their dumplings frozen so this should be about the same. Just FYI, 50 dumplings at Sheng Wang is $8, while it's $9.50 at Super Taste. Not sure about Lam Zhou though.
@bionicgrrrl,
Mmm.. fishballs. I think it would be good if they had some dipping sauces too. Ah.. a boy can dream.
Danny on February 23 2009 at 4:05 pm
Fu zhou fish balls soup is always one of the dishes at dinner of the Chinese new year eve in my childhood.
Since the Fu Zhou fish balls contain pork mince inside, hence the size of the Fu Zhou fish balls are larger than the ordinary fish balls. Hence, as children, we just call it as " big fish ball".
I clearly remember that my father had to travel to downtown to purchase these "big fish balls". It took almost half day because of the long queue of buyers.
Nowadays, in Chicago, you can purchase frozen Fu Zhou fish balls at Chinese grocery. It usually indicates in Chinese. If you can not read Chinese, then the easy way to tell is as my childhood way, it is big. Sometimes, it is about twice big than the usually fish balls.
The way my family cooking of the Fu Zhou fish balls is fish balls soup. It simply adds cold water with fish balls, after boiled, add salt, chapped Chinese celery and shallot. I like it because it is my childhood memory. On the other hand, it is extremely easy to cook. Live with simple, especially I am the main cook in the family.
chicago on February 23 2009 at 10:20 pm
Yep, as a Middle-American I have certainly found a lack of fish balls. Of course I had never even heard of them until recently (like yesterday). But now I want them! Banh Mis too! I could make one, but there are so many components!
Anyway, they look pretty! And yummy!
Aubrey on February 24 2009 at 8:00 pm
FishBalls! i like the fishballs when you have HotPot .. u can throw in random fishballs then. The Orange kind are always soft and tender, then u have the darker fish Meat balls (those are one of my favorites as well) and then there are the FuZhou kind that are bigger and have the fillings in them. Theres always a fishball feast in our Hot Pots. *drool*
Steven on February 25 2009 at 11:11 am
@chicago,
Oh yes! I forgot that they used to be called big fish balls. It's all coming back to me now. The places here add some sort of broth and they don't use Chinese celery every time. It's not the same
@Aubrey,
Haha, yes Middle America needs an infusion of fish balls. I tell you, they would make everyone happier!
@Steve,
Hot pot! Oh man, I haven't done that in FOREVER! What a great idea, I should do that soon before it gets warm again!
Danny on February 27 2009 at 1:22 am
Hey, that looks great and interesting. Any way someone can take a photo of what it might look like at my local Chinese supermarket and post so I can figure it out w/o having to ask the guys in my broken Cantonese about fuzhou (I can say fuzhou but not fukienese) fish balls and they just laugh at me? Thx (I'm not sure I want to risk buying fish balls that are just larger than the others... and I've accidentally bought cuttlefish balls, not fish balls, or ... others ... because I can't read Chinese) :)
Yvo on March 6 2009 at 12:14 pm
Insiders tip!
You can have them freshly made in Queens any time of the day(except when the owners are out for lunchat 4 p.m.) pure without pork.
at Sifu Cho
on 40-09 Prince street in flushing
Let me know how you like them, the wongtons with a surprise- shrimp are delicious too. No blog or web site yet.CUPCAKE
Joeneke
joeneke on March 12 2009 at 8:42 am