Chinese Pearl Balls (珍珠丸子)
Chinese pearl balls is a dish I’ve enjoyed since childhood, featuring tender flavorful juicy pork meatballs coated with tender sticky rice. They are fun to make, freezer-friendly, and look impressive, making them perfect for Sunday dinner and Chinese New Year.
Ingredients
- 1 cup glutinous rice
- 2 tablespoons Chinese dried shrimp (optional)
- 1 lb ground pork (*Footnote 1)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 teaspoons ginger , grated
- 4 green onions , thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Instructions
- Add glutinous rice and dried shrimp into separate bowls. Add cold water to cover. Let soak for at least 4 hours. (*Footnote 2)
- Drain glutinous rice and dried shrimp. Place the glutinous rice onto a medium plate with rim or a large bowl. Finely mince the rehydrated dried shrimp.
- Combine pork, eggs, dried shrimp, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, ginger, green onion, sugar, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in one direction, in a circular motion until it’s sticky. Add cornstarch and panko breadcrumbs. Stir to mix well. Pour in the sesame oil. Stir again to combine.
- Line your steamer with parchment paper with holes cut in it, or a few layers of wet cheesecloth.
- Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of meat paste (you can use a cookie scoop), shape it into a ball, and roll it in the glutinous rice, until the surface is completely coated with rice. Gently press with your hand so that the rice sticks to it. Place meatballs onto the lined steamer. Make the rest of the meatballs using the same method, spaced 1” (2.5 cm) apart.
- Add 2” (5 cm) water to a steamer and bring it to a boil.
- Steam the meatballs for 15 minutes, or until cooked through (*Footnote 3). Serve as a main dish with or without rice (*Footnote 4).
Notes
- A higher fat content makes the meatballs very juicy and tender. If you have access to a Chinese market, coarsely chopped ground pork works even better. On the other hand, leaner ground pork produces slightly firmer meatballs but the texture will be silky and nice as well.
- Soaking for less time will result in chewier rice. You might be able to get away with 2 hours soaking, but 4 hours produces the best result. You can soak both overnight in the fridge as well.
- You might need to steam the meatballs in two batches unless you’re using a two-tier bamboo steamer, stacked together. Once you’ve shaped the first batch of meatballs, you can steam them while shaping the second batch.
- This dish is intended to be served without sauce. You also serve it with sriracha or a dumpling dipping sauce (1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar + 2 teaspoons soy sauce + 1/2 teaspoon sugar + 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil).
- To make this dish gluten-free: use tamari to replace soy sauce, use dry sherry to replace Shaoxing wine, and make sure to use gluten-free panko breadcrumbs.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 315kcal, Carbohydrates: 14.7g, Protein: 38.7g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 2.3g, Cholesterol: 103mg, Sodium: 793mg, Potassium: 657mg, Fiber: 0.6g, Sugar: 1.7g, Calcium: 21mg, Iron: 2mg