Hunan Pearl Balls

Name: Hunan Pearl Balls ( )
Yield: Makes 20 Pearl Balls, or 5 to 10 Servings
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons peanut oil; Pinch of white pepper; 1½ cups glutinous rice; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 ½ teaspoons sugar; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 1½ teaspoons Shaoxing wine; 3 or 4 large iceberg lettuce leaves for lining steamer; 2 teaspoons light soy sauce; 1½ teaspoons peeled and minced ginger; 1 large egg, lightly beaten; 2 tablespoons dried shrimp, soaked in hot water to cover for 20 minutes, drained, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces; 2 scallions, finely sliced; 1½ tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water; 12 ounces ground pork; 4 fresh water chestnuts, peeled and cut into ⅛-inch dice; ¾ cup ⅛-inch-dice Salt-Cured Ham; ⅓ cup ¼-inch-dice Steamed Black Mushrooms

Preparation info

Makes 20 Pearl Balls, or
5 to 10
Servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking

By Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Published 2009

About

This unusual dish from Hunan is both flavorful and beautiful and is customarily eaten as the first course at a banquet or sometimes as a course for a family meal. The balls are made from ground pork studded with other ingredients, predominantly the salt-cured Yunnan ham from Hunan‛s neighboring province. The “pearls” are grains of glutinous rice that become glossy and almost translucent when steamed.

Ingredients

Asia
China
Starter

Ingredients

Method