人在異鄉，有時食物是和想念的家鄉最直接單純的連結。透過味蕾的體驗，苦的澀的複雜的心情都品嚐不到了，只有滿口的香濃滑嫩，彷彿回憶總能將一切雜質濾去，只留下美好的餘韻無窮，縈繞在心頭。人在天涯，不一定孤單；住在家中，也不一定歡樂。不論你身在何方，寂寞的時候，為自己做一道珍珠丸子吧，深得美食真諦的蘇東坡說過：「此心安處，是吾鄉」
Chinese Pearl Meatballs 珍珠丸子。來美國後很喜歡下廚，但再怎麼喜歡也從來沒想過有一天我會自己做珍珠丸子，且意外的嚐起來味道不錯.......
I’ve been enjoying cooking for myself since I moved to the U.S. Not only does cooking remind me of my culture, but it's also fun. Recently, I tried cooking Chinese pearl meatballs. This dish was named after the look - spheres coated with white sticky rice. They are easy to make and taste really good!
最近公司幾個部門決定舉辦 International Pot Luck 活動，每個人帶一道自己國家或者拿手料理，大家一起品嘗各國風味。想來想去，要避開外國人不敢吃的（蚵仔煎、三色蛋再見）、做好帶到公司再次加熱也不會難吃的（炸物鹹酥雞、麵條牛肉麵之類無緣了）、方便好取用（麻婆豆腐之類或湯湯水水的掰掰）、做起來不麻煩又可以嚇唬歪果人，最好有點亞洲風味，種種原因考量下決定做珍珠丸子。我參考了林姓主婦的家務事以及酪梨壽司食譜，然後我再加以改良，沒想到做出來滿好吃的，整盤都被同事們掃光。食譜做起來也一點都沒有想像中困難麻煩！
Chinese pearl meatballs is a traditional Cantonese dim sum dish, and it's commonly seen in Taiwan. My recipe is a based adaptation of two Taiwanese blogs (where original recipes credits go to Mrs. Lin and Avocado Sushi). This dish is usually made of ground pork but I replaced the pork with turkey to make the meatballs slightly healthier. The ground turkey that I bought is 85% lean and 15% fat. And it tasted juicy and nice just like ground pork. I brought these meatballs to an international potluck lunch at the office lately, and this dish hit the spot whenever hunger strikes. I'm happy to share the recipe and hope everyone enjoys this dish!
珍珠丸子食譜
肉餡材料：
- 500g 雞絞肉（85%瘦，15%肥）
- 香菇數朵（切碎備用）
- 大蒜兩瓣（切碎備用）
- 蔥綠兩段 （切碎備用）
- 薑一小段 （切碎備用）
- 雞蛋一顆打散
- 米酒適量
- 白胡椒適量
- 太白粉適量
- 鹽巴適量
- 醬油適量
- 麻油適量
裝飾材料：
- 糯米適量（泡水三小時後瀝乾靜置備用）
- 枸杞泡水瀝乾或者切片紅蘿蔔適量
做法非常簡單，如果你有食物處理機，將肉餡材料調味料全部放到食物處理機攪打均勻。如果沒有就跟我一樣慢慢切碎，用手和勻拍打。餡料的部分若想加竹筍、皎白筍、荸薺、蝦仁也是可以的，但因為我的冰箱剛好只有香菇，所以我的版本比較簡單。
吃丸子配湯：【大女子食譜】喝多了還是會醉，蛤蜊醒酒湯
另外我怕有同事不吃豬肉，所以選了雞絞肉。一般雞絞肉都比較乾澀，所以我買的是 85% 瘦混 15% 肥，吃起來非常多汁，且也比豬絞肉健康（一些些）。全部拌勻後讓攪拌後的材料靜置三十分鐘入味。接著捏成一顆顆小球，滾上瀝乾的糯米即可入鍋蒸。
我沒有大同電鍋，直接用煮飯的虎牌電鍋上層蒸架，點電子選單上的蒸／燉選項，大概二十到三十分鐘糯米轉成透明，放上枸杞或者胡蘿蔔裝飾後即可大快朵頤！這邊的份量大概可以做 25 顆小丸子，吃不完可以放涼後冷凍，下次要吃直接解凍加熱即可。
Chinese Pearl Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup uncooked sticky rice (soaked the rice for 3 hours, drained and set aside)
1 lb ground turkey (85% lean, 15% fat)
4 mushrooms (chopped)
1 garlic (chopped)
1 inch ginger (peeled and chopped)
1 scallion with green part (chopped)
1 egg (beaten)
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Optional:
Sliced carrots or 1 tablespoon goji-berry (soaked the goji-berry, drained and set aside)
Use the food processor to mince all ingredients except the sticky rice and mix with ground turkey in a ball. I don't own a processor, so I just chopped and mashed meatball ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then let sit for 30 minutes. Grab handfuls of the mixed and form them to small balls, about 1 inch each diameter. And then roll meatballs in the sticky rice for a layer, make sure that all sides are covered with sticky rice. Place the sliced carrots on the bottom of the meatball, and steam them on high for about 20 to 30 minutes. If you don't like carrots, you can serve the rice meatballs with goji-berry on top after steaming. This recipe makes about 25 balls. I like to batch cook so I let them cool to room temperature and freeze them in smaller containers. They still taste good as the day they were made after reheating!