Grandma’s Pearl Meatballs

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.