🍽️ Xiaolan Fish Ball

Deep-fried dace fish balls with clam mustard.

Xiaolan Fish Ball is a traditional specialty of Xiaolan town in Zhongshan, Guangdong. Fresh dace is scraped into a paste, mixed with a little flour, salt and pepper, then repeatedly beaten until bouncy; the paste is squeezed into small balls and deep-fried until golden. The crust is crisp while the flesh stays tender and springy, tasting of the clean, sweet flavour of river dace. Locals customarily dip the balls in a sauce of clam mustard or Worcestershire sauce, whose salty, faintly sour note cuts through the richness. Born from the water-town way with river fish, it appears on local banquet tables and is loved as a drinking snack or tea-time bite, best eaten piping hot.