Bitter gourd soup

Ingredients

For The Fish Balls:

• 200 g Indian Mackerel
• 1 tablepsoon cornflour
• 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
• salt to taste

For The Soup:

• 300 g Chinese bitter gourd (remove seeds and sliced)
• 1 teaspoon anchovies granules
• 4 shallots (sliced thinly)
• 4 tablepsoons olive oil
• salt to taste

The Dipping Sauce:

• 3 red chillies (deseeded)
• 1/4 inch belacan/shrimp paste - roasted over fire (can also use the belacan powder)
• 1/4 inch ginger
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 juice of calamansi lime
• Pound the chillies, belacan, ginger and garlic into a paste and mix in the lime juice.

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Preparation

• For The Fish Balls:
  Remove the flesh from the fish and mash it into a fine paste. Keep the bones aside to make the soup later. Add in the cornflour, pepper and salt to taste. Roll small portions into balls. Since the fish paste will be sticky, wet your hands before rolling the balls.
• Fry the shallots until crispy and remove. In the same pot and oil, fry the fish bones for about 4-5 minutes.
• Pour in 1/2 litre of water and let is boil. Once this done, strain to remove the bones. Put back the soup on the heat.
• Add in fish balls until they starts to float.Put in the bitter gourd and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
• Scoop into a serving bowl and garnish with the fried shallots.Serve with dipping sauce.