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.