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Pearl Balls
(Chen - Chu - Jou - Wan)
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| What You Need: |
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˝ cup glutinous rice
4 dried Chinese mushrooms, 1 to 1˝ inches in diameter
1 pound lean boneless pork, finely ground
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1˝ teaspoons salt
˝ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon finely chopped, peeled fresh ginger root
6 canned water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 scallion, including the green top, finely chopped
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| How To Cook: |
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PREPARE AHEAD:
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1. In a small bowl, cover the rice with 1 cup of cold water and soak for 2 hours. Then drain the rice through a sieve, spread it out on a cloth towel and let it dry.
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2. In a small bowl, cover the mushrooms with ˝ cup of warm water and let them soak for 30 minutes. Discard the water. With a cleaver or knife, cut away and discard the mushroom stems, and chop the caps fine.
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3. Combine the pork, egg, soy sauce, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. With your fingers or a large spoon, mix together until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Then add the ginger, chopped mushrooms, water chestnuts and scallions, and mix thoroughly again.
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4. Scoop up about 2 tablespoons of the mixture and, with your hands, shape it into a ball 1 inch in diameter. Repeat this process with the remaining pork mixture, moistening your hands from time to time with a little cold water. Arrange the balls side by side on a strip of wax paper.
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5. Roll one pork ball at a time in the rice, pressing down gently but firmly as you roll so that the rice grains adhere to the meat. Set the rice-coated balls back on wax paper.
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TO COOK:
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1. Pour enough boiling water into the lower part of a steamer to come within an inch of the cooking rack (or use a steamer substitute).
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2. Choose a heatproof plate about ˝ inch smaller in diameter than the pot so that the steam can rise and circulate around the pork balls as they steam.
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3. Arrange the pork balls on it. Place the plate on the rack, bring the water in the steamer to a boil, and cover the pan tightly.
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4. Keeping the water at a continuous boil and replenishing it if it boils away, steam the pork balls for 30 minutes.
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5. Set the steaming plate on a large platter and serve at once.
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