Bitter gourd and fish ball soup

I used the fish stock from the head and bone of the sea bass I made last time to cook this soup with bitter gourd and fish balls. The home-made fish stock was always much better. Especially in this dish when I needed the flavor of the fish to be dominant, the fish stock was really wonderful. 

Small bitter gourds are my family’s favorite. These ones offer many nutritional and remedying benefits to the health. I heard many people saying the more bitter the taste is, the better. What great is that this is a kind of pleasant bitterness. Once people can eat and like bitter gourd, they often prefer the more bitter ones. 

This soup is very simple to make and the taste is wonderful. I felt really comfortable when enjoying the soup. A typical Vietnamese meal sometimes is served very simply with just steamed rice and a bowl of soup. Fish balls can be bought easily from Asian supermarkets in small packs. I prefer the home-made fish balls which I make with the fish fillet and spices. These super-market fish balls are far different from the home-made ones, so a good-quality fish balls can be fine with this soup when making fish balls myself is much more expensive. Anyway, these fish balls still add another texture to the dish. 

Ingredients (serves 2 – 3)

- 5-6 small bitter gourds

- 1 pack fish balls

- 400ml fish stock

- 1 small piece of ginger, crushed

- salt or cooking granules

Cooking:

- Wash the bitter gourds well, cut into rings of about 2cm thick. Remove the seeds. 

- If necessary, wash the fish balls with water, then insert one fish ball into the centre of each bitter gourd ring. Set aside.

- Add the ginger to the fish stock in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the salt or cooking granules according to taste. Put in the bitter gourd and cook until the bitter gourds are crisp-tender.