I must confess, soup dishes are my favorite in winter. Maybe you are like me, and a hot, light, healthy soup is what you long for the most when the weather is cold. In China, we have a saying: “冬吃萝卜夏吃姜,不用先生开药方。” This means eating radish in winter and eating ginger in summer keeps the doctors away. I am not sure if the science behind it is sound, but I assume there must be a reason this saying exists and is passed down for generations.
One of the most common radishes we have in China is the white radish, which is also called “mooli” or “daikon radish”. One of the reasons it is popular amongst Chinese people is because of its various health benefits. Luckily in the UK, there are quite a few places where I ca purchase mooli. The one I mostly go to is Taj.
In this article, we will walk you through how to make a nutritious and light soup with fishballs, mooli, and Chinese glass noodles. The fishballs I used for my soup are handmade out of salmon and carrots. If you are interested in taking up the challenge, you can find our handmade fishball recipe here. Alternatively, you could purchase ready-made fishballs from your local Chinese store.
To make the soup, you’ll need the ingredients in this photo.
Now, on to our authentic Chinese fishball mooli glass noodle soup recipe!
Authentic Chinese Fishball Mooli Glass Noodle Recipe
Course: Noodles, SoupCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Medium3
servings15
minutes10
minutesThis recipe shows you how to make authentic Chinese fishball mooli glass noodle soup, a light and healthy dish that’s good for most occasions.
Ingredients
10-15 fishballs
A handful of dried Chinse vermicelli (glass noodles)
½ Mooli
1 Spring onion (garnish)
Salt to taste
¼ tsp white pepper powder
Coriander (garnish + flavor)
Directions
- Take a handful of dried Chinese vermicelli (glass noodles), soak them in lukewarm water until soft.
- Peel half of your white radish (mooli).
- Cut them into thin slices (around 2mm thick).
- Then cut them into shreds.
- Warm-up a cooking pot, add ½ tsp of vegetable oil, wait until the oil is heated. Put the shredded mooli in and stir fry for a couple of minutes, you should see the mooli shreds are softening up.
- Add 2 cups of water into the cooking pot. Bring it to a boil. (Add the fishballs in if you have purchased them from your local Chinese store and they are frozen)
- Add your softened glass noodles in, let it boil until the vermicelli becomes transparent. Do not cover during the process, the bad smell of the white radish will evaporate. By this time, your radish shred should look a bit jelly-like.
- Add your fishballs in if they are freshly made as they don’t need to be thoroughly cooked. Add salt to your taste and ¼ tsp of white pepper powder.
- Let it boil for a further minute. Place in a big bowl, garnish with spring onion and some coriander. Serve. I like to have my soup with extra ground white pepper and Chinese dark rice vinegar. Hope you could enjoy this hearty and healthy soup as much as I do. 您慢用(nín màn yòng) !
Notes
Try It Yourself!
And there you have it! This is how you can make authentic Chinese fishball mooli glass noodles. Give our recipe a try and let us know how it goes in the comments below. We’re also happy to answer any questions you may have about this and other recipes on our site. Be sure to also give us a follow on Instagram! We post more photos of delicious Chinese food regularly.