Pearl Meatballs

“Pearl meatballs” are a traditional and famous dish that originated from Mianyang County (now known as Xiantao), Hubei. They are named after the shape of the meatball, because when the meatballs are steamed, the glutinous rice looks translucent and bright, just like a pearl.

What you will need:

Main ingredients:

350g pork, 1/3 bowl glutinous rice

Seasonings:

1 teaspoon cooking wine, 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder,1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon chicken extract, 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, 4 slices ginger

How to make it:

1. Wash the glutinous rice and place it in a bowl with enough water to cover it. Allow it to soak overnight.

2. At the same time, finely chop the pork and place the meat in a bowl.

3. Addfinely chopped ginger, cooking wine, pepper, salt,sugar, chicken extract, light soy sauce, and sesame oil into the bowl.

4. Stir to make sure everything is evenly mixed, whipping in only ONE direction until the filling becomes fluffy and sticky. Then, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator. Allow the filling to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

5. On the next day, take out the glutinous rice and drain it.Do the best you can to shake off any excess water.

6. Take out the marinatedfilling, and form 20g balls.

7. Roll the balls in the glutinous rice so that thewhole surface is coated.

8. Put the meatballs in the steamer and steam them for 20 minutes at high heat.

9. Take them out and put them on a plate. Then we are done.

Tips:

1. Using light soy sauce is highly recommended because it doesn’t add extra color to thefilling or the glutinous rice. On the other hand, using other types of soy sauce, dark soy sauce, for example, will create a gloomy color, making the dish less worthy of the name of “pearls.”

2. Using pork with about 30% fat and 70% lean meat will give the ground meat a smooth texture.

珍珠圆子是湖北沔阳（今仙桃市）的著名小吃。因圆子蒸熟后，外面粘的整粒糯米发光油亮，形似珍珠而得名。

食材：

主料：猪肉 350g；糯米适量，约1/3碗即可

调料：料酒1茶匙；胡椒粉1/2茶匙；盐1茶匙；糖1/2茶匙；鸡精1/2茶匙；生抽1茶匙；芝麻香油2茶匙；姜4片

步骤：

1.将糯米洗净装入碗中，并倒入清水使之浸泡在水中。

2.将猪肉剁碎后装入大碗。

3.将切成末的姜，料酒，胡椒粉，盐，糖，鸡精，生抽，芝麻香油加入装猪肉馅的碗中。

4.顺着同一方向搅拌直至肉馅发粘后包上保鲜膜放入冰箱。

5.第二天，将泡好的糯米捞出，沥干水分。

6.取出腌制好的肉馅，每次取20g左右捏成肉圆。

7.将肉圆放入糯米中滚动，使圆子外层均匀的粘上一层糯米。

8.将蒸锅铺上一层油纸后再将做好的圆子放入其中，蒸15至20分钟即可。

9.将圆子取出再装盘，珍珠圆子就大功告成了。

小贴士：

1.一定要选用生抽，这样才能使圆子色泽漂亮，符合珍珠之名。使用老抽会使圆子外层糯米颜色加深。

2.建议选取三分肥七分瘦的猪肉，这样的肉馅口感才更为顺滑。