Let’s Play (Fish) Ball

There’s a different level of contentment in enjoying the simple things in life. For instance, we thank a Supreme Being, whoever may that be for each of us, for waking up in the morning and for the lovely sunrise that greets us after a storm (or, in the case of Ondoy, after the flood). We enjoy the refreshing beat of waves pounding the beach.

And we enjoy sharing fish balls in the company of friends or family.

If there’s comfort food, fish ball is company food. A team sport, so to speak. It’s a shared experience. You could argue, when enjoying fishball by your lonesome, that it’s for sustenance. But we know this reasoning is crap. While fish ball is supposedly made up of finely pulverized fish meat, the street food is probably mostly flour with fish flavoring (and no, banish that dirty thought and wipe out that sly smile – fish have no balls). Not much sustenance there. Besides, what used to be 25 cents per piece is now more than a peso. It’s not filling. Pantawid-gutom, at best, which brings us back to why we enjoy fish balls – for the company.

Compared to other vices, fish ball is relatively less expensive. “Pare, gimik tayo” or “Mare, shopping tayo” sounds more ominous to the wallet than “Dude, fishball tayo.” While we can cook and eat fish ball at home, the experience is just not the same as, say, picking the fish balls with a thin bamboo stick (it’s also not the same without the bamboo stick), under the shade of century-old trees in the UP Campus.

The yesteryears of fishballs involved precise eye-hand coordination and targeting by the consumer, with the balls picked while they’re floating in boiling cooking oil in a pan, then dipping the full stick in a jar of sauce. One jar for the sweet sauce, one for the sweet and sour, and another jar for the spicy/hot sauce. The same jar for everyone. Truly a communal sport. Great way for sharing not only the sauce, but all sorts of germs unintentionally sprinkled by each one (which is probably why the sauce tastes way better than the one we prepare at home).

Those were the more adventurous, happier days. These days the fishballs are served on an elongated paper plate. Sauce is separately smothered on top of the fish balls. Less fun. Sobrang maarte na tayo ngayon.

Fish balls have indeed gone a long way. While it’s still generally classified as street food, it’s also sold in shopping malls. There are gourmet fish balls, but that’s an entirely different matter altogether. There’s also a business franchise consisting entirely of fish balls.  Fishball is king. All hail to the simple fish ball.