Chinese Pearl Meatballs (珍珠丸子)

For our Memorial Day weekend BBQ, my mom rolled out, literally, a few dozen of her Pearl Meatballs. These little balls can be commonly found on Chinese dim sum menus. Here is a good recipe (my mom eyeballs everything, so it'd be counterproductive for me to tell you to add a pinch of this or a tad of that)

   pearl meatballs before steaming (I forgot to get an after-shot, just cash 
              into your food porn imagination depository...or Google)

The dish's namesake references the meatballs' glistening layer of sticky rice after steaming. Sticky rice (also called glutinous, sweet, mochi, or pearl rice, among others) is a type of starchy, short-grained rice that requires soaking before cooking and becomes sticky when steamed. Those with gluten-free diets rejoice! Glutinous rice is safe for consumption since it does not contain any dietary gluten, despite its name.


Dishes with sticky rice are prevalent in many Asian cultures. In Chinese cuisine, for example, zongzi (粽子) is a packet of sticky rice with sweet or savory fillings wrapped in banana leaves, which is then boiled or steamed. 

Perhaps the best known sticky rice product is the beloved Japanese sweet mochi, made from ground sticky rice paste.