Fishball Sauce

This homemade fishball sauce is the perfect dip for all your Filipino street foods. Pair this with lumpia, fish balls, squid balls, and more!

This is a follow-up recipe to my previous post on how to make Kwek Kwek, or Filipino fried quail eggs. Pair these two together for the ultimate flavor bomb!

Watch the Fishball Sauce Recipe Video Below!

This sauce brings back memories of my childhood patiently waiting for the street vendor to visit our neighborhood. He’d usually come at around noon with his street cart, and the smell of freshly fried Filipino street food would hit your nose almost instantaneously, signalling everyone to come rushing out to the streets with cash.

The cart would always be surrounded by crowds of people, patiently waiting for their turn to purchase a couple skewers. The vendor would usually have a giant pot of hot oil in the middle (where he would fry the fish balls, lumpia, quail eggs) with tall jars of dipping sauces on the side.

The sauces were always the highlight for me. Spiced vinegar and fishball sauce were amongst one of the most popular dips. You get that flavor explosion of savory street food, coated in a sweet or tangy dip that just worked perfectly together.

Having moved to the West at a young age, my family would often miss those experiences. Every couple months or so, I’d have a huge craving for Kwek-Kwek, and my family would always help out in the kitchen boiling the eggs, peeling them (the most tedious part), and of course, frying.

I’d be in charge of sauce duty, carefully pouring them into tall, slender glasses to be able to dip the entire skewers into them. We’d devour all of the Kwek-Kwek and sauce in a matter of minutes.

Seeing my parent’s reactions were always priceless because I knew it would always remind them of home!

What is Fishball Sauce?

Fish ball sauce, commonly referred to as “Manong sauce” by locals (“Manong”, referring to an elderly man who usually sells street food) is one of the many universal dips used for fish balls, squid balls, kwek kwek, kikiam, and all other types of Filipino street foods.

It’s thickened with a cornstarch slurry (sometimes flour) so that it’s able to properly coat the food when dipped into. Flavor-wise, the sauce is both sweet and savory, due to the main ingredients of brown sugar and soy sauce.

Sometimes I even like to add one or two Thai chilies in the sauce for an extra layer of flavor and spice!

When creating this recipe, I never realized how simple and easy it was to truly make the sauce. I really thought that there was some sort of secret ingredient in it back then that made it taste so incredible (well, maybe there was, and I just haven’t discovered it yet).

Nonetheless, this sauce works perfectly with not only fishballs, but almost every fried Filipino street food you can think of.

Ingredients (and substitutions!)

Soy sauce: this will add that savory component to our sauce. For more authenticity, I’d suggest going for a popular Filipino brand, such as Datu Puti or Marca Piña.

Brown sugar: You can adjust the sweetness of the sauce according to your tastes since it’s all up to personal preference how sweet or savory you want your dip to be.

• Substitutions: You can use regular white sugar as a replacement.

Garlic, shallots: Some people will oppose adding aromatics into this, but I honestly think it adds a greater depth of flavor and complexity to the overall sauce.

Cane Vinegar: I like to add a splash of vinegar into my fish ball sauce to add some brightness and acidity. This helps tremendously in to balance out those rich, savory flavors of the street food. You can purchase cane vinegar in most Filipino/Asian groceries.

• Substitutions: Any standard white vinegar should work. Rice wine vinegar is also a great replacement.

Instructions

In a sauce pot, combine together the water, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, shallots, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then let simmer for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, pour in the cornstarch-water mixture and stir quickly to avoid clumps. Bring this to a low boil and continue to heat the sauce until thickened to your desired consistency.

Taste the sauce, and season to taste with more salt, pepper, or sugar, if desired.

Transfer to a separate bowl or container, let cool completely prior to serving.

Cooking Tips

Whisk the sauce quickly when pouring the cornstarch slurry: This allows the starch to be evenly distributed throughout the sauce to prevent clumps and for even thickening.

The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools: Overcooking the sauce can cause it to become too clumpy once cooled, rendering it un-dippable. To avoid this, once you notice the sauce has thickened considerably, remove it from the heat and let cool slightly to continue thickening. If it still appears watery, you can always return the sauce back onto the stove to reduce further.

Make a spicy fish ball sauce version: Throw in a couple fresh Thai chilies or spoonfuls of chili flakes/powder into the sauce to add a bit of kick!

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

How do I store the sauce?

Keep the sauce refrigerated in an airtight container to increase its shelf-life.

Fishball sauce should be good for around 5-7 days refrigerated. If you find that the sauce has clumped up a bit, simply microwave it for a couple seconds and stir until smooth again.

What Soy Sauce do I use?

For cooking anything Filipino, I like to go for the most popular Pinoy brands such as Datu Puti, Marca Piña, or Silver Swan. If you can’t find any of those, any other soy sauce could work, such as Kikkoman, which is more common.

Can I use white sugar?

For this recipe, I used brown sugar to not only accentuate the brown color of the sauce, but to also give it a slight caramel/molasses taste. In a pinch, white sugar could also work!

Looking for more easy and delicious sauce recipes? Here’s a couple of my favorites:

• Homemade Chili Oil
• Sweet Chili Sauce
• Annatto Oil