Delicious little pork meatballs with Asian flavors, coated with rice to give the porcupine flavor. I don’t cook in a steamer too often, but this worked out well with no drama.

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

• 1 1/4 cup medium-grain rice (I used 1 cup, and ran slightly short)
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/3 cup chopped water chestnuts
• 6 green onions, both white and green parts, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (ours had gone gross, I used about 1/2 tablespoon dried ginger)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce (gf if necessary)
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Soy Vinegar Dipping Sauce:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 2-3 slices fresh jalapeno or large pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

Place the rice in a bowl of water and soak at least 4 hours, up to 12 hours. Drain well, and then spread on a plate or small baking sheet. The rice didn’t feel softened, but it had swelled a bunch, so I certainly wouldn’t skip this step!

In a medium bowl, combine all remaining meatball ingredients and stir together until well combined.

With wet hands, shape the mixture into 24 meatballs. If the meat is too soft to shape, refrigerate for 15 minutes and try again. Roll each meatball in the rice to coat, rolling gently so that rice remains only on the outside of the balls.

Couple in the far back have pretty much no rice, which is why I’m recommending a bit more!

Meatballs can now be steamed, refrigerated for several hours on a plate, or frozen on a plate and then transferred to a freezer bag for longer-term storage.

When ready to cook, bring several inches of water to a boil in a wok or large pot. Oil the tray of a steamer and add the meatballs. Place the steamer tray over the boiling water and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, adding an additional 5 minutes if cooking frozen meatballs.

While the meatballs steam, stir together all dipping sauce ingredients. Once the meatballs have cooked, serve hot with the dipping sauce. Maybe if you’re not forgetful, make some snow peas or something for greenery, but hey, you do you!

They juuuust all fit, which is convenient so we don’t have to do another round of steaming.

Porcupine Balls

From The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen.

Meatballs:

• 1 1/4 cup medium-grain rice
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/3 cup chopped water chestnuts
• 6 green onions, both white and green parts, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Soy Vinegar Dipping Sauce:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 2-3 slices fresh jalapeno or large pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

Place the rice in a bowl of water and soak at least 4 hours, up to 12 hours. Drain well, and then spread on a plate or small baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, combine all remaining meatball ingredients and stir together until well combined. With wet hands, shape the mixture into 24 meatballs. If the meat is too soft to shape, refrigerate for 15 minutes and try again. Roll each meatball in the rice to coat, rolling gently so that rice remains only on the outside of the balls. Meatballs can now be steamed, refrigerated for several hours on a plate, or frozen on a plate and then transferred to a freezer bag for longer-term storage.

When ready to cook, bring several inches of water to a boil in a wok or large pot. Oil the tray of a steamer and add the meatballs. Place the steamer tray over the boiling water and cover. Cook for 20 minutes, adding an additional 5 minutes if cooking frozen meatballs.

While the meatballs steam, stir together all dipping sauce ingredients. Once the meatballs have cooked, serve hot with the dipping sauce.