Pearl meatballs () are a classic chinese banquet and party appetizer. While this is a meatball in the sense its a ball of meat because we cover it in a layer of glutinous rice (otherwise known as sticky rice) we give it a much more attractive name of pearl meatball. This is because the rice looks translucent and the color and shape of the meatballs looks like a pearl. Pearl meatballs originate from hubei, china. Some people think this dish is a cantonese dish and some people think this is a hunanese dish however the correct origin of this dish will be hubei. One of the most popular stories behind this dish is the founder of the state of dahan (), chen youliang, originates from mianyang (, xiantao in present day), hubei. His wife made these pearl meatballs before a battle for his army and hope to cheer them up so they will win the battle. Another saying is the wife of chen youliang made this dish for the soldiers who have digestive system problems so they wont starve in battle. With this dish being made with mince and ground rice the soldiers can easily digest this with both meat and rice. This is a popular dish in both banquets and chinese reunion dinners. In chinese culture objects that are usually round shaped are associated with the meanings of reunion and being together. Also even though the name is quite attractive the most important thing about this dish is its absolutely delicious. When purchasing mince for this dish, do try if you can to purchase mince that contains a slightly higher percentage of fat as this will vastly improve the texture of the meatballs. Alternatively, if you dont want to increase the fat you can add tofu into the meatball mixture instead. Its not quite the same thing but will make the texture of the meatball a bit softer. You can use pork mince or beef mince. Traditionally chinese people make this dish from pork mince but if youre not so keen on pork you can substitute it with beef. Also, i personally use long grain glutinous rice (sticky rice) for this recipe. Traditionally chinese people have used long grain sticky rice for savory dishes and short grain sticky rice for dessert.
