Name: Pearl Meatballs
Yield: Makes 24 meatballs
Ingredients: 1 cup sweet glutinous rice; 1⁄2 medium head (1 pound) napa cabbage, finely minced; 1 Tbsp. plus 1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt; 1 pound ground pork or freshly ground pork shoulder; 1 Tbsp. minced garlic (3 cloves); 1 tsp. minced fresh ginger; 3 scallions, green and white parts, chopped; 2 tsp. light brown sugar; 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil; 1 Tbsp. chicken stock; Vegetable oil, for forming the meatballs

Pork ginger and scallions into a meatballs rolled in rice.

Photo by Frankie Gaw

These pearl meatballs were one of the very first recipes my grandma taught me when I started learning to cook from her. I remember following her lead as she combined a familiar mixture of pork, ginger, and scallions into a meatball, then rolled it in grains of sweet glutinous rice that looked like pearls. After an 18-minute steam, lifting the steamer lid revealed glistening sticky rice balls, every grain soaked with pork juice and the aroma of bamboo. I can trace this recipe back to the Hubei province of China; it’s one of the dishes that makes me proud to be Asian. Though it’s simple, with minimal ingredients, it delivers so much soul. When steaming these meatballs, I find it best to line a bamboo steamer with liners that are perforated or with extra napa cabbage leaves.

This recipe was excerpted from 'First Generation' by Frankie Gaw. Buy the full book on Amazon. This book was selected as one of the best cookbooks of 2022.

Recipe information

Yield
Makes 24 meatballs

Ingredients

1 cup sweet glutinous rice

1⁄2 medium head (1 pound) napa cabbage, finely minced

1 Tbsp. plus 1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt

1 pound ground pork or freshly ground pork shoulder

1 Tbsp. minced garlic (3 cloves)

1 tsp. minced fresh ginger

3 scallions, green and white parts, chopped

2 tsp. light brown sugar

2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1 Tbsp. chicken stock

Vegetable oil, for forming the meatballs

Preparation

Step 1
The night before, place the glutinous rice in a medium mixing bowl. Add water to cover by 1 inch and place in the fridge to soak overnight.
Step 2
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cabbage and the ½ teaspoon salt. Mix with your fingers until the salt is incorporated. Set aside for 10 minutes to let the cabbage sweat out water. Meanwhile, in another large bowl, combine the ground pork, garlic, ginger, scallions, brown sugar, sesame oil, the remaining 1 tablespoon salt, and the chicken stock.
Step 3
After the cabbage has sweated out all its water, transfer it onto a thin dish towel or a few layers of thick paper towels and wrap around the cabbage to enclose. Using your hands and brute strength, squeeze out as much excess water from the cabbage as you can. Transfer the cabbage to the rest of the filling mixture and use your fingers to mix all that juicy meat mixture goodness together, using a circular motion, until the filling looks homogeneous and feels sticky, about 3 minutes.
Step 4
Drain the rice, then pour the grains onto a plate. Prep a bamboo steamer by lining it with perforated steamer liners or extra napa cabbage leaves. With oiled hands, grab a small amount of meat filling (the size of a ping-pong ball) and roll it into a meatball. Then roll the meatball around in the plate of rice until the grains have stuck to the entire surface of the meatball. Set the meatball into the bamboo steamer. Continue forming meatballs and rolling them in rice until all the meat filling has been used.
Step 5
Fill a pot that will fit your bamboo steamer with an inch of water and bring to a boil. Place the steamer in the pot and cover. Steam for 18 minutes, until the rice has softened and the meat is cooked through, and serve.

Reprinted with permission from First Generation: Recipes from My Taiwanese-American Home by Frankie Gaw. Text and photography by Franklin Gaw copyright ©2022. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Buy the book from Amazon or Ten Speed Press.