Fish Ball Soup

Fish Ball Soup is a point of pride in Taiwanese households. This one is super quick to make with lots of flavor from just a few ingredients that we always keep on hand.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Chinese, Taiwanese

Servings:

Calories: 165kcal

Author: Judy

Ingredients

1 tablespoon neutral oil (such as canola, vegetable, or avocado oil)
5 ounces fresh mushrooms (such as beech, white button, baby portobello, oyster, or shiitake; cleaned)
1 scallion (finely chopped, with the white and green parts separated)
1 teaspoon shrimp flakes (tiny dried shrimp; optional)
4 cups chicken stock
4 cups water
11-12 ounces fish balls (1 pack)
½ pound spinach (thoroughly washed and cut into 3-inch/8cm pieces)
¼ - ½ teaspoon white pepper
½ - 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Salt (to taste)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat the neutral oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Cook the mushrooms, white parts of the scallions, and the tiny dried shrimps (if using) for 3-5 minutes, until the mushrooms are softened.
Add the chicken stock, water, and the fish balls. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes until fish balls are cooked through and puffed up.
Uncover and add the spinach, white pepper powder, sesame oil and green parts of the scallions. Bring everything to a boil, add salt to taste, and serve!

Nutrition

Fish Ball Soup by The Woks of Life. Recipe URL: https://body-goals.fit/fish-ball-soup/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-95781":{"type":"food","name":"Fish Ball Soup","slug":"wprm-fish-ball-soup","image_url":"https:\/\/thewoksoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fish-ball-soup-7.jpg","rating":{"count":0,"total":0,"average":0,"type":{"comment":0,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":1,"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"neutral oil","notes":"(such as canola, vegetable, or avocado oil)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"15","unit":"ml","unit_id":5271}},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1776128533458},"unit_id":5262,"id":1095,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"15","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"5","unit":"ounces","name":"fresh mushrooms","notes":"(such as beech, white button, baby portobello, oyster, or shiitake; cleaned)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"150","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"5","unit":"ounces","timestamp":1776128535908},"unit_id":5270,"id":3901,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"5","unit":"ounces","unitParsed":"ounces"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"150","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"1","unit":"","name":"scallion","notes":"(finely chopped, with the white and green parts separated)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"id":446,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","name":"shrimp flakes","notes":"(tiny dried shrimp; optional)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"unit_id":5268,"id":6361,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":5,"amount":"4","unit":"cups","name":"chicken stock","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"950","unit":"ml","unit_id":5271}},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"4","unit":"cups","timestamp":1776128553336},"unit_id":5265,"id":276,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"4","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"950","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}},{"uid":6,"amount":"4","unit":"cups","name":"water","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"950","unit":"ml","unit_id":5271}},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"4","unit":"cups","timestamp":1776128556108},"unit_id":5265,"id":332,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"4","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"950","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}},{"uid":7,"amount":"11-12","unit":"ounces","name":"fish balls","notes":"(1 pack)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"300-340","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"11-12","unit":"ounces","timestamp":1776128559478},"unit_id":5270,"id":4998,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"11-12","unit":"ounces","unitParsed":"ounces"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"300-340","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":8,"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"pound","name":"spinach","notes":"(thoroughly washed and cut into 3-inch\/8cm pieces)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"225","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"pound","timestamp":1776128562205},"unit_id":5275,"id":4987,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"pound","unitParsed":"pound"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"225","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":9,"amount":"\u00bc - \u00bd","unit":"teaspoon","name":"white pepper","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"unit_id":5268,"id":314,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bc - \u00bd","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":10,"amount":"\u00bd - 1","unit":"teaspoon","name":"sesame oil","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"unit_id":5268,"id":266,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bd - 1","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":11,"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Salt","notes":"(to taste)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"id":260,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}}],"originalServings":"4","originalServingsParsed":4,"currentServings":"4","currentServingsParsed":4,"currentServingsFormatted":"4","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1,2],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}