This sweet and spicy Fishball Sauce recipe is a one-for-all sauce for your favorite Filipino street food like fish balls, squid balls, kikiam, and kwek kwek.
What is fishball sauce?
Fishball sauce is the one used by Filipino street food vendors as a one-for-all dipping sauce. It is used for fishball, chicken balls, squidball, kikiam, kwek kwek, tokneneng, dynamite or whatever new invention they come up with.
This is my version of Manong's sauce which is a term we also use to refer to this dip, while we normally call the seller, Manong, a term of address for an eldery man or older brother as a sign of respect.
Printable Recipe
Fishball Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 small red chili (labuyo) - chopped
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine all ingredients, except the red chili, and mix until flour and sugar are dissolved.
- Bring it to a simmer over medium heat while stirring continuously. Add the chopped red chili and stir until the sauce thickens. Usually takes about 3-5 minutes.
- Transfer to a bowl or a jar and let it cool down a bit before serving.
Nutrition
This is the sauce I used for Kwek Kwek on my last post and I thought I would write about it separately since it is very versatile and not limited to Kwek Kwek only.
I titled it Fishball Sauce because I do not know what else to call it all. Sweet brown sauce? Too generic. And since it is originally used for fishballs by the street food vendors (when there were only fishballs and no other choices yet), so people know it only as of the sauce for fishballs.
Ingredients
It is fairly easy to make and only needs 8 basic ingredients:
- water
- flour
- sugar
- soy sauce
- garlic
- red chili
- ground pepper, and salt.
You can even skip the chili if you are not into spicy but Armin and I definitely are, the hotter the better.
Cooking Tips
- To prevent the flour from clumping together, mix it with the other dry ingredients first then gradually add the water while mixing.
- Do not use hot water, also, to prevent the flour from clumping. Just use tap water.
- Stir constantly once it starts to warm up so it will not form lumps at the bottom of the saucepan and to prevent it from burning.
- remember that the sauce will continue to thicken even after cooking while it is cooling down, so turn the heat off once it is thick but still fluid.
- You can also set aside half without the chili and then add it to the other half and continue to simmer over low heat for some seconds to a minute. This was you have two options, the sweet and sweet-spicy.
How to use and store
Enjoy this sauce as the perfect dip for these all-time Filipino street food:
TO STORE:
This sauce is best used on the same day but it is made but it can also be made ahead. It will stay good in the fridge for some days. It is normal for the sauce to form into a jelly once refrigerated. Just reheat in the microwave or stove-top until warm, if needed add a bit of water.
Iris says
Is it really 2 tbsp flour and then just 2 tbsp sugar??? Thats what shows on your page
Bebs says
Yes, that is correct, Iris. You can adjust the sugar if you like it really sweet.
Mary Joy L.Gubalane says
Thank you po,hope may matutunan aq sa mga recipe ninyo
Nimfa says
Really good! Taste like the same sauce I remember back then. Thanks for sharing
Cherry says
Do you have the recipe for the other sauce as well? I can't wait to try them both. Thank you
Miles Amante says
Very usefull and helpful recipes for me as a begginer to cook a tasty, delicious and a good recipe ideas to start for a business.
Thank you for sharing your ads
Joy says
My go to sauce. 🥰 kids loved it! Thanks always!
Rona Alba says
Hi Cabalen! Dacal a salamat keng recipe mu! It was so delicious and easy to make. I truly enjoyed it and reminded me of the fish ball vendor's sauce back home. Kudos for an excellent recipe!
Ingat and God Bless!
Bebs says
Dacal a salamat mu rin Cabalen!
Paulo Santos Fajardo says
This is actually kind of an instant sauce. I don't make this on a pan. I make this in a mug using boiled hot water. Just mix the ingredients thoroughly. It's like an instant coffee but a sauce! Love this simple recipe!
Spoiler says
This is the best manong sauce replica I've ever made. Highly recommended.
Joyas says
First Time to Make One 🙂
I'm no cook, haha. But my hubby bought "kikiam". Suddenly, I thought of making a sauce. Since I had no idea on how to do so, I turned to none other than Mr Google and found this recipe. I'm a bit innovative, so I added about 5 tablespoon vinergar, but had it simmered first before adding the pre-mixed ingredients. The amount of vinegar and sugar would actually depend on one's preference. I used chili flakes instead. Thanks for this!
Ange says
I added half onion to the recipe. It’s amazing, thank you for sharing
Vhanz says
I do suggest to add vinegar just a little bit😊
ANA says
NASARAPAN MO MGA COSTUMER NAMIN
Analisa Robles says
Got it perfect! Sarap!
Bebs says
Thanks for the perfect review, Analisa! Glad you like it.
luz says
thank you for this recipe. it's delicious.
Chi says
living abroad, it's been surely more than 15 years since i last ate streetfood fishballs. I truly appreciate this recipe so thanks for sharing. That being said, i find that adding some vinegar and onion made it closer to how i remembered it (maybe coz the sweet and vinegar sauces which were usually separated by the vendors got somehow mixed thanks to those double dippers haha)
Jaqs says
Hi. Is it ok to use cornstarch than flour?
Kevn says
Tamang-tama yung timpla. Exactly like the fish ball sauce you taste on street-side food carts. 😋
Bebs says
So happy that you like it Kevin!
Mhonna says
Love it...i finally foynd the perfect partner for my fishball
Bebs says
That is great, Mhonna! Thanks for the perfect score 😉
Sofia says
it was bad
Bebs says
Hi Sofia, not according to all the other comments we've got so far so I am sorry that it is not to your liking, hope you find what you are looking for though.
Mhonna says
Love it...
Ratbu Petmalu says
Good. Thanks.
Cha says
Tried and loved the recipe 👌🏻
Bebs says
That is great, Cha.
kriz says
it's too salty and i already cut the salt in half. i added a little bit of water and still salty. it's very good but i think next time i will not add salt. i will still recommend it.
Katy says
Can I use white sugar instead of brown sugar?
Bebs says
Sure, but use a little lesser as it is normally sweeter than brown sugar.
benjo del rosario says
Perfect for my Quikiam. My friends love it.
Bebs says
That is great!
Andrew says
I remember my childhood memories with your recipe. Very tasty!
Bebs says
That is nice, Andrew!
JRL says
It was too salty for me and my family. I'll still use this recipe though. But next time, I'll skip the salt. 😅 Thank you!
NikkiDTosh says
too salty indeed. I just tried now. 1 tsp is too much for this ratio
Bebs says
It says 1/2 teaspoon.
Sabby says
Thanks! Tried without chilli and it was perfect for the kids!
Bebs says
Glad you and the kids like it, Sabby.
Letisha says
I started my street food business and I used this recipe . My customers enjoyed my sauce 😅😅 Thanks for this yummy recipe.
Madel Lim says
Thank you sooo much! We ended up making 2 batches - 1 for the kids and 1 spicy for adults. Perfect for air-fried balls hahaha 🙂
Armin says
You`re welcome...glad you guys like it 🤗
Pat says
For me, it's salty. So I added more water and sugar.
bella says
thank you..
Bebs says
you are wellcome..
Mella says
Hi. Just wanted to ask if cream flour is right for this sauce? Thanks
Bebs says
Hi Mella, what do you mean by cream flour?
mark says
hi, just want to ask how long will this sauce last in the fridge?
Bebs says
It should be ok for a couple of days. It will not spoil so fast but the texture that will not stay the same for too long. But you can reheat it and adjust. Add water if it gets too thick or cornstarch if it is too thin.
Liane says
Hi! Thank you for sharing your recipe! It was fairly easy to make and tasted even better than the one I bought a few days ago. Thanks again! 🙂
Bebs says
happy to hear it, Liane.
Lenie says
Hi Bebs..my famiy loved your fishball sauce recipe.I just added an extra chilli according to our pteference..thanks. 😄
Lenie says
Thanks Bebs..😀 my family loved your sauce recipe. I added an extra chilli to their liking..
Bebs says
Oh yes, chili is always welcome! Thanks, Lenie.
Algelyn I says
Good for business 😍
Thank you, I'll try
Armin says
👍
Romeo says
Hi! I have to say it's a perfect match! Already tried it 3 times but I suggest that we'd add 1/2 more cup of water because it came out too thick. Thanks, though!
Bebs says
Thanks, Romeo! Of course, you can always adjust to your liking..
Macy says
I wouldnt recommend using flour. Try using cornstarch instead just like how street vendors do
Bebs says
Hi Macy, I have to disagree with you. You know that the sauce is made with flour if it is opaque/cloudy and not translucent like if you use cornstarch. The ones used by street vendors are not transparent. Another problem with using cornstarch is that it becomes runny after a while. But if you insist on using cornstarch for this recipe, note that you have to add the cornstarch towards the end of cooking it because overcooking will make it runny instead of thick.
Kris says
Hi I tried your recipe and it came out salty. Probably it’s because the soy sauce that I’ve used? I’ve used the SilverSwan Soy Sauce, and if I’ll try it again later, should I reduce the soy sauce to half spoon?
Bebs says
Hi Kris, or reduce the salt until you get the saltiness to your liking.
Laine says
unfortunately recipe too salty.
Bebs says
Hi Laine, should not be...but then again saltiness is different from one person to the other...since I only used soy sauce for seasoning maybe you could use a milder one or reduce it.
sally de chavez says
its a good help for my business
Bebs says
Glad to hear that, Sally.
Ever says
Success! Thank you for this recipe Bebs!
Bebs says
Glad to hear that Ever...
Maria Teresa Chua says
Hi Bebs,
I did the fishball recipe from your website and it was a success. Please share also how to make the sauce on the picture (with the kwek-kwek) as another option for fishball sauce.
Bebs says
Hi Maria, it is simply a spicy vinegar dip. 1 cup vinegar, 1 small red onion-chopped, 1 red chili-chopped, salt, and pepper.
Joey Totanes says
Thanks