I love this ode to fishballs so much!! So fascinating to read about the history behind its origins too. Funnily I wasn’t that interested in fishballs when I was growing up in Singapore but after I lived abroad for over half my life I find myself craving fishballs to the extent I’m now considering making my own fishballs here in Portugal to have in the classic fishball noodle dish style 🤗 I also love your reflection on what makes up history - not all history is written and culinary history is such an important part of history too that connects us in the present to the past and allows us to relive pieces that were precious to those who came before us. Thank you for this wonderful piece!
Thank you Suyin for dropping by and sharing your thoughts!!! I love this comment so much; most people who read this piece just told me “oh I didn’t know you like fishballs so much”… whereas what I truly cared about most was how we get to share the same food as our ancestors and how culinary history is a big part of understanding migration patterns over SE Asia and eating them is having a direct sensory experience shared with our ancestors.
I hope you get to enjoy that bowl of fishballs noodles in Portugal then! Let me know if you do ;)
I agree, and I love what you said about eating as a direct sensory experience shared with our ancestors across time and space - so beautifully put! Yes I'll be happy to let you know and share pictures when I manage to conjure up my own version of fishball noodles here ;)
What a wonderful piece! I love that you explored your life of fishballs from the origins to its long lasting mark across generations and across the world along with the migrants. The funny thing was, I used to stay away from fishballs, having had a few "not fresh" ones when I was young, and I thought that's what fishballs are - old fish mush into paste and shaped into balls. Until later when I was in university and ventured out to try new foods in the city, I found again good fishballs and being a noodle soup lover, there's where it showed up often in my meals. I am still pretty picky with my fish balls but I've grown to be more tolerant of its variety. Living in Germany now, I got to make do and make noodle soup from frozen fish balls and rice noodles, and here the one that fall short is actually the noodles! You were right, Malaysia fish balls noodles are the best, until of course I try the original in Chaoshan...
omgosh thanks for checking it out and subscribing Rachel!!! you literally made my substack day 🤗 was actually heading to drop a comment in one of your posts! i feel like a lot of old-school food stores in malaysia are quite a stickler for the traditional way of making things, so in some respects it may be even more traditional than the restos in china that continue to evolve with the times. hope your food cravings are somewhat fulfilled in germany 🥲 though nothing beats food back in malaysia imo
yeah that is why you need to find your bowl of fishball noodles at a rickety shack in China? :) i gotta cook to reduce the food cravings enough till my next trip home!
I love this ode to fishballs so much!! So fascinating to read about the history behind its origins too. Funnily I wasn’t that interested in fishballs when I was growing up in Singapore but after I lived abroad for over half my life I find myself craving fishballs to the extent I’m now considering making my own fishballs here in Portugal to have in the classic fishball noodle dish style 🤗 I also love your reflection on what makes up history - not all history is written and culinary history is such an important part of history too that connects us in the present to the past and allows us to relive pieces that were precious to those who came before us. Thank you for this wonderful piece!
Thank you Suyin for dropping by and sharing your thoughts!!! I love this comment so much; most people who read this piece just told me “oh I didn’t know you like fishballs so much”… whereas what I truly cared about most was how we get to share the same food as our ancestors and how culinary history is a big part of understanding migration patterns over SE Asia and eating them is having a direct sensory experience shared with our ancestors.
I hope you get to enjoy that bowl of fishballs noodles in Portugal then! Let me know if you do ;)
I agree, and I love what you said about eating as a direct sensory experience shared with our ancestors across time and space - so beautifully put! Yes I'll be happy to let you know and share pictures when I manage to conjure up my own version of fishball noodles here ;)
What a wonderful piece! I love that you explored your life of fishballs from the origins to its long lasting mark across generations and across the world along with the migrants. The funny thing was, I used to stay away from fishballs, having had a few "not fresh" ones when I was young, and I thought that's what fishballs are - old fish mush into paste and shaped into balls. Until later when I was in university and ventured out to try new foods in the city, I found again good fishballs and being a noodle soup lover, there's where it showed up often in my meals. I am still pretty picky with my fish balls but I've grown to be more tolerant of its variety. Living in Germany now, I got to make do and make noodle soup from frozen fish balls and rice noodles, and here the one that fall short is actually the noodles! You were right, Malaysia fish balls noodles are the best, until of course I try the original in Chaoshan...
omgosh thanks for checking it out and subscribing Rachel!!! you literally made my substack day 🤗 was actually heading to drop a comment in one of your posts! i feel like a lot of old-school food stores in malaysia are quite a stickler for the traditional way of making things, so in some respects it may be even more traditional than the restos in china that continue to evolve with the times. hope your food cravings are somewhat fulfilled in germany 🥲 though nothing beats food back in malaysia imo
yeah that is why you need to find your bowl of fishball noodles at a rickety shack in China? :) i gotta cook to reduce the food cravings enough till my next trip home!
like a little bit of home in a bowl ☺️