Name: Steamed Pork and Vegetable Balls
Yield: Makes 3 to 4 servings as a main dish or 6 to 8 servings as part of a multicourse meal
Cuisine: Mauritian Hakka
Ingredients: 5 dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms, each about 2 inches wide; Chile sauce, homemade or purchased; 1 tablespoon dried shrimp, or ¼ teaspoon salt; ½ cup cornstarch (2¼ ounces); Soy sauce, to taste; 3 tablespoons vegetable oil; 12 ounces chayote or Asian white radish, such as daikon; 2 ounces dried thin rice noodles; 8 ounces ground pork; 1½ tablespoons fish sauce, or 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Preparation info

Makes
3 to 4
servings as a main dish

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Hakka Cookbook

By Linda Anusasananan

Published 2012

About

When Mee Lan first describes these meatballs, I’m skeptical as to whether the recipe will work. She cooks all the elements separately, including the pork, and then mixes them together with cornstarch and steams. Doubtful that the components will hold together, I follow her directions. Success! The cornstarch literally glues the ingredients together. Mushrooms, dried shrimp, rice noodles, and fish sauce lace the steamed pork meatballs with flavor and lighten the texture. I prefer her version