Chinese Pearl Meatball Cooking Demonstration

This month we were lucky to have Juying do a cooking demonstration for our group!  She showed us how to make a beautiful Chinese Pearl Meatball - a traditional food to serve for the Chinese New Year.  

It's called a pearl meatball because the rice covering the meatball adds a beautiful shimmer to the dish,

 making it elegant and delicious!

The recipe below is a basic recipe to follow, but can be adjusted to taste:

1 cup of soaked glutinous rice (soaked for 2 hours)
1 lb ground pork
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2-3 Tbsp sesame oil
1 spray green onion (chopped)
1/2 can water chestnuts (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 egg
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
Optional: Dried Shitaki mushrooms (3-4) (soaked and chopped)
Optional: Dried shrimp (soaked and chopped)


How to Make a Chinese Pearl Meatball:


1. Soak the rice for 2 hours.


2. Mix the rest of the ingredients with ground pork in a mixing bowl and add 1 to 1.5 cups of water. Mix well and let sit for 30 minutes.

4. Roll the meat into a small ball.

5. Gently roll the meatball in rice to cover the meatball.

6. Place onto a plate that can sit inside of a bamboo steamer.


*If you do not have a bamboo steamer you can steam your meatball in a steamer rack on top of a rice cooker or other steaming system*


7. Bring 1/2 pot of water to boil and place the stacked bamboo steamer on top.  Make sure there's a good seal between the pot and the steamer.


8. Steam for 30 minutes.


9. Let cool and serve.

This dish was delicious and elegant! But even more importantly, it was a great education for everyone there to learn some of the tricks to cooking this traditional Chinese dish.  Thanks to Juying for all of her work and great cooking!

Fun Stir Fry for Kids

Made by: Juying

Juying also showed us how to make a fun Chinese stir fry for kids.

Preheat vegetable oil in a skillet pan or wok.  

Stir in chopped hotdogs and mixed vegetables of your choice.  Once heated add cooked, chilled rice. 

Flavor with ketchup.  Stir and heat together.  

In a separate pan, fry an egg:

                                      

Dish a mound of the stir fry onto a plate and cover with egg.

Tuck corners under, add a decoration out of ketchup on top, and you have a fun stir fry surprise that kids will enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Made by: Debbie

Yes, this dish was so good the dish was empty by the time we got a picture in!

1 lb. chicken or pork cut up and cubed
1 Tbsp. Soy sauce
1 egg white
3/4 cup cornstarch


Mix soy sauce, egg white, and cornstarch.  Put meat cubes in mixture and coat well
Heat oil on pan or deep fryer, drop pieces in, deep frying 3 times, 2 min. Each time.

Sauce
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water


Combine all but cornstarch/ water mixture in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, add cornstarch mixture to desired consistency


Add pineapple chunks and serve.

Asian Lettuce Wrap

Made by: Marné

1 lb ground turkey
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic (minced)
1 tsp ginger root

2 cups cooked rice

16 iceberg lettuce leaves or heart of romaine leaves

Dipping Sauce:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup water
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp ginger root
1 tsp sugar

Mix together turkey, soy sauce, garlic and ginger.  You can either form these into meatballs or brown turkey in a saucepan.  If you make them into meatballs, broil or grill meatballs for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked through.

Mix dipping sauce ingredients well.

Then layer rice onto lettuce leaf, top with a meatball and roll it up, dip into dipping sauce and enjoy!

Peach Cream Pie

Made by: Kathryn

Graham Cracker Crust (3 pies)
8 ounce cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons milk
4 cups cool whip (thawed)
1 large package of instant vanilla pudding (2 cups milk)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
6/7 fresh peaches or 4 cups canned
(This makes 3 pies)

1st Layer
Beat 8 oz cream cheese, stir in 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons milk. Fold in 1 cup cool whip. Spread on crust. Lay a layer of peaches on top of first layer.
2nd Layer
Combine pudding, 2 cups of milk and almond extract. Stir in rest of cool whip. Pour on top of peaches.
3rd Layer
Decorate peaches on top