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Pearl Meatballs
Pearl Meatballs
Category
appetizer
Cuisine
Chinese
Servings
makes about 26 meatballs
Prep Time
45 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
These sticky rice coated meatballs hail from the Hubei region of China. There is something about these little bite-sized morsels that always makes feels a little bit festive and fancy, even though they are fairly easy to assemble.
Author:Fiona Kennedy
Ingredients
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1 cup glutinous rice
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1-lb ground pork
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4 medium fresh shiitake mushroom caps, finely chopped (about ½ cup firmly packed)
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3 green onions, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
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¼ cup finely chopped water chestnuts
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¼ cup silken tofu
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1 large egg
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3 tsp. Night Market Seasoning (7227)
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2 tsp. cornstarch
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2 tsp toasted sesame oil
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2 tsp soy sauce
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1 ½ tsp sugar
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napa cabbage leaves for lining steamer
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sliced green onion and chili crisp for serving (optional)
Directions
Place glutinous rice in a small mixing bowl and cover with water by 1-in. Let soak for 2 hours.
Place ground pork, shiitake mushrooms, green onion, water chestnuts, tofu, egg, Night Market seasoning, cornstarch, sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and using your hands, mix all the ingredients well. You want to mix the ingredients enough that it starts to lighten a little in color and the mixture should get fairly sticky. This can take about 3 to 5 minutes. Place meat mixture in the fridge for about an hour to firm up.
Heat water in your steamer over high heat. Line your steamer basket with napa cabbage leaves. Drain rice well and try to remove as much moisture as possible. Place rice in a shallow wide bowl. Remove meat mixture from fridge and form balls about 1 ½ Tbs in size. Roll meatballs in the rice to ensure that the surface is coated. Then, gently roll the meatballs between your palms to ensure that the rice sticks to the surface. Place meatballs in the steamer so that they are about ½-in. apart. Steam meatballs for 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove meatballs from steamer and transfer them to a plate. Repeat with remaining meat mixture and rice until they are all cooked. Depending on the size if your steamer, this may take a few rounds. I was able to divide this into 2 different batches. Sprinkle meatballs with sliced green onions and chili crisp, if desired.