Seasoned ground pork is formed into balls, rolled in soaked sticky rice and steamed until the rice grains puff. Chinese pearl meatballs make a delicious and filling snack.
Connie’s Notes
Snack? Yes, if you have two or three balls with a cup of tea. But if you eat half a dozen or more, that’s filling enough for lunch or dinner. I’m not joking.
See that? See how much meat you get? Combine that with all that rice that coats the meat, multiply it by six and there’s no way you’d still feel hungry.
My best tip for making this dish? Don’t take short cuts with the soaking and marinating time.
The rice needs to absorb water before it goes into the steamer to cook properly. Unless you do, the rice grains won’t cook completely during steaming. They need to absorb water first to plump up so that the grains cook sufficiently in the steam.
The meatball mixture benefits tremendously from long hours of marinating. If you’ve heard the term “velveting”, leaving the meat to marinate in the fridge is the equivalent. The cornstarch melds with the liquids and combination tightly binds the ground meat together so your meatballs don’t fall apart during assembly.
See that? See how much meat you get? Combine that with all that rice that coats the meat, multiply it by six and there’s no way you’d still feel hungry.
My best tip for making this dish? Don’t take short cuts with the soaking and marinating time.
The rice needs to absorb water before it goes into the steamer to cook properly. Unless you do, the rice grains won’t cook completely during steaming. They need to absorb water first to plump up so that the grains cook sufficiently in the steam.
The meatball mixture benefits tremendously from long hours of marinating. If you’ve heard the term “velveting”, leaving the meat to marinate in the fridge is the equivalent. The cornstarch melds with the liquids and combination tightly binds the ground meat together so your meatballs don’t fall apart during assembly.Ingredients
- 1 cup sticky rice
Meatballs
- 300 grams ground pork - with at least 20% fat
- 2 tablespoons finely sliced scallions
- ¼ cup finely chopped carrot
- ½ teaspoon grated garlic
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger
- 2 fresh shiitake - caps only, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame seed oil
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
Soak the sticky rice
- Place the rice in a glass or ceramic bowl.
- Pour in enough water so that there is an inch of water above the surface of the rice.
- Cover the bowl loosely and allow the rice to soak in the fridge for at least eight hours.
Prepare the meatball mixture
- In a bowl, mix together the ground pork, carrot, scallions, shiitake, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper.
- In another bowl, mix the soy sauce, rice wine, oyster sauce, sesame seed oil, sugar and cornstarch to make a thin paste.
- Pour the starch mixture over the ground pork mixture. Mix well.
- Cover the bowl and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least four hours.
Make the sticky rice balls
- Drain the sticky rice in a colander positioned over a bowl. Leave to drain while you make the meatballs.
- Using a small ice cream scoop or teaspoon, scoop enough of the ground pork mixture to make two-inch meatballs.
- Roll each meatball in the drained sticky rice, pressing the rice grains onto the entire surface of the balls.
- Line two steamer baskets with non-stick paper.
- Place the rice-coated meatballs in the paper-lined steamer baskets, about an inch apart to allow space for the rice to expand.
- Steam over medium heat for 30 to 35 minutes.
- Serve the meatballs with chili oil sauce on the side for dipping.
