Pearl meatballs with dried shrimp and shiitake
Minced pork beaten with dried shrimp and shiitake, rolled in glutinous rice and steamed until the grains turn glassy, served with blanched choi sum — warming and filling.
- 45 min
- Serves 2
- Steam
- Medium
Why it suits you: Yang-deficient people feel the cold and have chilly hands and feet, and although Liqiu is hot, hours in air conditioning easily weaken the yang of the spleen and stomach. Glutinous rice warms the middle and boosts qi, dried shrimp warms the kidneys, shiitake replenishes qi, and ginger and pepper add warmth. Steamed rather than fried, it warms without overheating.
Method
Prep 25 min · Cook 20 min- 1Rinse the glutinous rice and soak for at least 2 hours, or overnight, then drain. Soak the shiitake and dried shrimp until soft and dice finely.
- 2Mix the pork with the salt, soy sauce, wine, pepper, cornflour and 2 tbsp of the mushroom soaking water, stirring in one direction until sticky. Mix in the shiitake, shrimp, ginger and spring onion.
- 3With wet hands, roll the mixture into 12 balls, then roll each in the rice until well coated.
- 4Line a steaming plate with baking paper, arrange the balls with space between them and steam over a high heat for 20 minutes until the rice is translucent and soft.
- 5Meanwhile, blanch the choi sum in lightly salted boiling water and serve alongside the meatballs.
Cautions
- Glutinous rice is hard to digest, so three or four balls are plenty if you bloat easily; eat them hot, as they harden when cold.
Chef's tips
- Soak the rice long enough or it won't steam through; leave space between the balls, as the rice swells and they'll stick together.
The TCM view
Glutinous rice is sweet and warm, boosting qi and warming the spleen and stomach — the Bencao Gangmu says it 'warms the spleen and stomach and stops cold-type diarrhoea'. Dried shrimp is sweet, salty and warm, tonifying kidney yang; pork is sweet, salty and neutral, moistening and tempering the warmth; shiitake is sweet and neutral, boosting qi; ginger and pepper warm the middle. It warms the spleen and kidneys without dryness.
