Curry Fishballs, HK Streetfood style

All of sudden, I had a craving for curry fish balls... the kind that we used to buy in the hole-in-a-wall place a block or two away from friend J's house.  A quick look in the freezer and I found a pack of Singaporean fish balls!  So off I went to the kitchen to cook a batch of curry fishballs, in the HK street food style that I (hopefully accurately) remember.

They were delicious and quite similar to the ones we always enjoyed!

200 to 250 grams fish balls
1 large onion, finely minced
2 large cloves, finely minced
1/3 cup yellow curry powder
1 tablespoon sesame oil
dried chili flakes, to taste, optional
1/2 cup coconut cream
1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper, to taste
dash of fish sauce
cornstarch slurry

Saute the onions and garlic until fragrant.  Add the yellow curry powder and sesame oil and stir-fry until a paste forms.  Add chili flakes, to taste, if desired.  Add the coconut cream, 1/2 cup chicken broth and fish balls.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, fish sauce.  Simmer until the fish balls are puffed up (add more chicken broth if necessary).  Thicken with cornstarch slurry.

Fishball Curry for One

When hubby says he won't be having dinner at home, I usually don't bother to cook for myself.  I can easily eat a sandwich or whatever is left over from previous meals, or (gasp) open a can!

Tonight however, I had such a craving for curry and fishball that I gave in.  But then I didn't want any leftovers so I just made enough for one person - me!

It's a good thing that the recipe was easy to scale down... 

This is how -

Slice a small piece of ginger and a small onion into thin pieces.  Saute the ginger and onion pieces in hot oil until browned but not burnt.  (I used my omelette pan!)  Throw in about 6 to 7 pieces of fish balls (I halved mine to make more pieces) and stir fry a few seconds.  Meanwhile, mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of curry powder or garam masala (depending on how strong you want your curry to be) with 1/2 cup of coconut milk.  Pour this into the pan.  Throw in a piece of dried chili and some chopped basil (and maybe a piece of kaffir lime leaf too).  Season with salt, according to taste.  This dish was done in about 15 minutes!