Fish Ball Noodle Soup. Thick chewy udon noodles in a warm chicken broth accompanied with bouncy delicious fish balls, bok choy, bean sprouts, mushrooms and green onions. A quick and comforting meal. Ready in less than 15 minutes.
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There’s something very comforting about noodles in soup. It really brings me back to my childhood when my mom would make us noodle soup often. She knew I had very poor circulation so she’s always trying to get me to eat warming foods. She had her own version of noodle soup as well and hers was a vermicelli with protein and veggies.
But the best part was her broth, it was always so flavourful because it was homemade. But today, I want to make this recipe easy peasy so feel free to use store bought broth or homemade! Whatever you have on hand.
This is the perfect bowl to cozy up to when the colder weather hits. I love this warming recipe because it's so quick, simple and filling! The bouncy fish balls with the chewy noodles are the best part!
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Frozen Udon Noodle Cakes: or substitute with fresh udon noodles. Avoid using the shelf-stable vacuum sealed kind as they're not as chewy. Or substitute with any noodles that you enjoy like ramen, other wheat noodles, etc.
- Fish balls: or substitute with fish cake sheets. This is an Asian food that is usually made from ground Pollock or Cuttlefish with other seasoning ingredients.
- Green Onion
- Asian greens: bok choy, yu choy, choy sum or even baby gai lan
- Bean sprouts: optional
- Seafood mushrooms: or enoki mushrooms, button mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms
Soup Base
- Chicken broth: low-sodium or substitute with beef broth or vegetable stock
- Water
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Oyster sauce: Or substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce
- Rice Mirin
- Sesame Oil
- Garlic
- Green onion
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
How to make Fish Ball Noodle Soup
- In a medium size pot filled with water and bring it to a boil. Lower your frozen udon noodle cakes into the hot boiling water and loosen for 30 seconds. Once loosened, strain immediately. Any longer and the noodles will go soggy. Divide the noodles and transfer to serving bowls.
- In the same pot, fill with Soup Base ingredients as listed above and stir to mix. Cover and bring to a boil on high heat.
- Remove the lid and add fish balls and allow them to boil for 5-8 minutes until they float, uncovered.
- As your fish balls are boiling in the soup, add bok choy, seafood mushroom and bean sprouts. Blanch until vegetables are cooked (about 2 minutes for bok choy and mushrooms and 1 minute for bean sprouts). Remove and divide among the serving bowls.
- Remove and divide fish balls and broth between bowls. Garnish with green onions (optional). Serve hot and enjoy! If you want the soup saltier, add 1 tablespoon more of oyster sauce.
Storage & Reheating
This dish is best consumed immediately as the soup will make the udon noodles soggy over time. However if you have leftovers, I recommend storing the noodles separate from the broth and other ingredients or the noodles will go soggy overtime.
To reheat leftovers, re-boil everything in a small pot on medium-high heat until hot throughout.
FAQ
Usually 5 days after the package has been opened. Tip: freeze the rest and it’ll last for months until freezer burn forms!
It’s a thick chewy wide Japanese noodle made of wheat flour and is often used in Japanese cuisine.
Other recipes you may like!
- Udon Carbonara
- Rose Shrimp Udon Noodles
- Sesame Sausage Udon Stir-Fry
- Fish Cake Udon Stir Fry
- Stir Fried Vegetable Tofu Udon
📖 Recipe
Easy 15-min. Fish Ball Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 10 pieces store bought fish balls or as many as desired
- 1000 grams udon noodle reduce to 2 if you prefer a smaller serving
- 1 green onion finely sliced (optional garnish)
- 2-3 cups Bok Choy sliced into half
- 1 cup bean sprouts rinsed
- 150 grams seafood mushrooms ends trimmed, washed and divided into smaller bunches
Soup Base:
- 2 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 2 cups water cold
- ½ tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon mirin
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 stalk green onion finely sliced
Instructions
- In a medium size pot filled with water and bring it to a boil. Lower your frozen udon noodle cakes into the hot boiling water and loosen for 30 seconds. Once loosened, strain immediately. Any longer and the noodles will go soggy. Divide the noodles and transfer to serving bowls.
- In the same pot, fill with Soup Base ingredients as listed above and stir to mix. Cover and bring to a boil on high heat.
- Remove the lid and add fish balls and allow them to boil for 5-8 minutes until they float, uncovered.
- As your fish balls are boiling in the soup, add bok choy, seafood mushroom and bean sprouts. Blanch until vegetables are cooked (about 2 minutes for bok choy and mushrooms and 1 minute for bean sprouts). Remove and divide among the serving bowls.
- Remove and divide fish balls between the bowls.
- Divide soup broth between bowls. Garnish with green onions (optional). Serve hot and enjoy! If you want the soup saltier, add 1 tablespoon more of oyster sauce.
Steven Low
Nice comfort food
Christie Lai
Absolutely! Thanks so much for making it!
Rosemary
As soon as I read thick and chewy udon noodles I was sold! I am a big fan of the thick noodles in Asian food !
Katherine | Love In My Oven
It is SO cold here!! What a warm and comforting dish. This would certainly warm me up!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your suggestions for changing up the flavors were so helpful! I really like the versatility of this recipe.