Pearl Balls

Dim sum is usually translated as heart's delight, albeit a verrry rough translation. Traditionally a breakfast or brunch meal, it has expanded in America to be an all day hors d'oeuvres or tapas sort of arrangement. Traditional dim sum houses still exist, ranging from one cook, one burner, down the stairs to your left (Washington Street by the playground) to multi-story, trolleys every fifteen seconds, extravaganzas. (thanks Geri, thanks Kathi) Making dim sum is relatively simple on the surface, and paradoxically that's the tough part. You're making a dish, honed by tradition, to a ur-templet, in a size that leaves no room for almost. You can use the techniques on other dishes, substitute local ingredients, or make things in the style of, but try to master one or two in the tradition first. In both the long and short run, it's time well spent.

Pearl Balls (珍 珠 球, zhēnzhū qiú)

The night before: Take 1 cup short grain sticky rice (glutinous rice), wash, and soak.

Day of show: Drain rice, spread out, dry.
Combine 1 lb ground pork, 4 minced shallots (or green onions), 4 chopped water chestnuts (from can), 1t sugar, 1t salt, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 2t grated ginger, 1t sesame oil, 1t soy, 1t rice wine. Mix

You might be tempted to use a robocoupe here. Resist. The idea is to size your cuts with the final texture in mind, and a machine just chops too fine and the results are too homogenous. As noted earlier, all the steps count. If you can let the mixture stand at this point, all the better. Divide the mixture into 20 balls.

Set up your steamer. Line your tray with parchment or banana leaves. A bamboo tray (wok style) with leaves makes a killer table presentation, but we all know the rule: work with what you have. Roll each meatball in the rice until coated. ( dry rice, wet hands) Put in tray, leaving room for the rice to expand. Steam for 30 min.

The pearl balls will hold for quite some time, but they really are the best if you let them set for a minute or two, then straight to the table. Serve with soy or ginger soy.