Poached Fish Balls in Original Broth 原汤汆鱼丸
Poached Fish Balls in Original Broth is featured among the local specialties of Hubei.
Poached Fish Balls in Original Broth (原汤汆鱼丸) is a traditional Hubei dish in which balls of fish paste are poached in a broth made from the head of the same fish. In September 2018 the China Cuisine Association (中国烹饪协会) named it one of Hubei's ten classic dishes when it first released its "Chinese Cuisine" (中国菜) list of regional dishes.
How it is made
The dish uses one fish in two ways, Hubei Daily (湖北日报) explains: the head is boiled for broth and the body is made into balls. The flesh is scraped into a paste, mixed with chopped spring onion and ginger, squeezed into balls and dropped into the fish-head broth to cook, so they come out as fish balls in clear soup.
Guangming Daily (光明日报) reported on Zou Zhiping (邹志平), head of the Hubei Chu Cuisine Research Institute (湖北楚菜研究院), making the dish at a Wuhan university. He took the fish off the bone and soaked it, scraped off the white flesh with a knife, and worked in seasoning, egg white, starch, pork and iced water, stirring and kneading. He then squeezed the paste into rounds, slid them into the pot one by one and nudged them gently with the back of a spoon; each came out white and glistening.
Flavour and texture
Hubei Daily describes the balls as white and tender and the broth as clear and fresh. It is served with ham and spring onion, which give it bright colours. Poaching the balls in the broth of their own fish, Hubei Daily says, keeps the original flavour, fresh and fragrant.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.
Image credits & notes (1)
- Reference photo of a similar dish · 同类菜品参考照片A similar preparation is pictured; the local version may differ. 同类菜品参考照片，当地做法可能不同。Photo: Alpha · CC BY-SA 2.0Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited. Thumbnails may show a cropped view.
