Rice-covered Meatballs

When I saw some other bloggers making this dish (珍珠丸子) on internet few days ago, I immediately knew I'd love to make one. But there were two problems:

(1) I don't have glutinous rice (糯米, also known as sticky rice) at home and ordinary supermarkets don't sell it. And honestly I don't want to buy a bag of glutinous rice. It's tasteful, no doubt. But for some reason I think glutinous rice(or maybe the overeating of it) can cause me a very bloated stomach.

(2) Like most other Chinese or oriental recipes, meat ball is typically made of minced pork. Yet my hubby doesn't like pork at all.

But... those pearl rice balls are sooooo cute! (Aren't they?)

Therefore I decided to substitute glutinous rice and pork with sushi rice and turkey. The dish turned out pretty good. I think it may not as meaty as the traditional ones using pork, but I think it is a lot healthier. Turkey is an excellent protein source with very low fat percentage. It can be easily found here at very reasonably price too. Guess I am happy enough!

Modified from:

珍珠丸子 by  小小米桶的寫食廚房

Pearl Rice Balls /珍珠丸子

My ingredients:

• 1 cup sushi rice (raw, about 158g)
• 260g minced turkey
• 10g dried baby shrimps (蝦米), briefly chopped
• 10g dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp Unami paste
• spring onion, chopped
• a pinch of salt
• white ground pepper
• curled parsley (optional)
• gojiberries (枸杞, optional)

My Method: (Make 16 meatballs, serves 2-4)

1. Soak the sushi rice in water for about 2 hours. Drain well in a sieve. Pat with kitchen towel to make sure the rice is dry before using.
2. Soak the dried baby shrimps and porcini mushrooms in water for 10 minutes. Drain and then soak in shaoxing wine again for about 10 minutes. Drain and chop. Keep the shaoxing wine for later use. Chop the spring onions and garlic cloves.
3. Combine the minced turkey with soy sauce, shaoxing wine, sesame oil, salt, white pepper and garlic in a mixing bowl. Stir hard in a single direction until all ingredients are well blended.
4. Add dried baby shrimps, porcini mushrooms, egg white, cornstarch and spring onion into the mixing bowl and stir again until well blended.
5. Boil about 800ml of water and pour the hot water into a pressure cooker (or a large saucepan).
6. Take about 1 heaped table spoon of meat and form into a ball. Roll the meat ball over the sushi rice until they are completely coated. Continue with the rest of the meat mixture.
7. Place the meatballs on steamer basket or a perforated steaming inset over a tripod. Steam over boiling water for about 10 minutes when using pressure cooker. Start counting time from the point of closing the lid. Turn off the heat after 10 minutes regardless of the pressure ring reading (should have reached green already). Then wait for another 5 minutes till the pressure comes back to normal. It should take about 15 minutes when steaming in a normal saucepan.
8. Garnished with curled parsley and gojiberries.

My Notes

• Although garnish is strictly optional, I found that the use of curled parsley and gojiberries can improve the depth of the taste. The slight sweetness of gojiberries goes very well with turkey meatballs. Gojiberries can be easily bought in large supermarkets or health food stores such as Holland & Barrett.
• I used a perforated inset came with my pressure cooker to steam the meatballs. I think it is better than using a plate which may collect too much steam and result in excessive juice in the dish. A steamer basket can also be used.
• I used a bit of Umami paste bought from Tesco. This is a very new condiment which has only been on the market for about 2 years. It is a flavour enhancer like MSG but without any side effect. Plus, Umami paste are said to be made from ingredients naturally high in "Umami", such as mushrooms, tomato & anchovy.
• Porcini mushrooms are commonly used in mushoom risotto. It has very strong taste which can be comparable with Shiitake mushrooms. I love to use porcini mushrooms especially when I am in hurry as they are usually sliced before dried. The smaller size makes them rehydrate much quicker than dried Chinese mushrooms -- It took at least 2-3 hours to make dried Chinese mushrooms soften but it only takes 10 minutes for porcini mushrooms. They can be easily found in most supermarkets near other condiments.
• Approximate cost of the main ingredients: £5

Sesame Oil Chicken with rice

Do you keep any "emergency meat" in the freezer? My favourite "emergency meat" is chicken, either wings or thighs. As you may or will notice, chicken is a very popular ingredient in my home, as a combined result of several factors:

1. I tend to cook a bit more so the leftovers can be frozen up for lunches on the following day or later. Beef or fish usually becomes too chewy but chicken just tastes as good after re-heat.
2. Hubby is not a big fan of pork. He eats it, sometimes, but only when it's exceptionally well cooked.
3. Chicken is cheaper and more affordable here in UK than pork and beef, especially those parts with bones such as wings or thighs.

I always try to keep a kilo or two of chicken in freezer. So when I am too busy to do grocery shopping or simply too lazy to do so (usually the latter case...), I can quickly de-froze some chicken, chuck it into a saucepan, or even better, a pressure cooker. It doesn't take much time nor effort -- probably just 20% of what I did for Coq au vin -- but it can make a easy peasey cozy homey dinner.

Recipe:

I read from about 6 or 7 recipes from Taiwanese blogs using traditional cooking method (slow cooking in a crock pot). Then I modified and tested to come up with this version using my pressure cooker.

My Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 1kg of chicken (about 12-13 wings)
• A bit of gingers, sliced
• 3 clovers of garlic, diced
• 2 tbsp of sesame oil
• 600g or 4 cups of rice, uncooked
• 4 cups of water
• 1tbsp of Shaoxing wine (紹興酒) (optional)
• salt and soy sauce sauce
• Shiitake mushrooms or dried Chinese mushrooms (optional)

My Method: 

1. Marinate chicken with Shaoxing wine and a pinch of salt for 3 hours, or at least half an hour.
2. Mix rice in water in a small bowl. Put aside.
3. Heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a large frying pan and sauté garlic and ginger until brown. Stir in half of the chicken wings over a medium-high heat for 4 minutes.
4. Stir-fry another half of the chicken for 4 minutes.
5. Put all ingredients into the pressure cooker, water and rice first, followed by chicken wings.
6. Cover and lock the pressure cooker. Make sure the pressure setting has been set to "2" (which has a higher cooking temperature at 116C). Cook over high heat until the green mark which indicates the right pressure has been reached.
7. Turn to medium heat and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and wait until the cooker de-pressurizes itself naturally. Season with soy sauce and sesame oil when served.

One-line Verdict:

For a very lazy night.

Verdict:

• This is a modified version of Sesame oil chicken with rice (麻油雞飯) which is a popular homey dish in Taiwan. To me, it tastes, especially when mushrooms are added, very much like "steamed chicken rice with mushrooms (北菇蒸雞飯)" served in Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong.
• I don't know it has any scientific grounds, but sesame oil chickens are believed to have an ability to nourish the body and keep people warm in cold winter. New mothers in Asia (e.g. Taiwan & Malaysia) are advised to have sesame oil chicken in their diet during the confinement month after childbirth (坐月子). Maybe the high energy content of oil and chickens help speed up blood circulation?
• 600g of rice is actually quite a lot -- usually a small bowl of rice served at home is just about 100-150g.
• This dish is a little bit too oily though. For a healthier version, sometimes I use chicken breast and reduce sesame oil to 1 tbsp.
• Approximate cost of the main ingredients: £3 (isn't it a real bargain? £3 for 4 servings!)