| 1 |
Rinse the rice, rubbing gently with your fingers in 3 or 4 changes of water, or until it is no longer milky. Drain. |
| 2 |
Soak in plenty of cold water for about 4 hours. Drain well and spread out in a shallow pan. |
| 3 |
Drain and squeeze out excess water from the mushrooms but leave damp. Chop into the size of matchstick heads. |
| 4 |
Soak the shrimp, in just enough boiling water to cover them, for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain them, reserving the soaking liquid. |
| 5 |
Chop fine or mince the shrimp and the water chestnuts. |
| 6 |
Chop the fat and lean pork by hand or mince coarsely. |
| 7 |
Combine the mushrooms, dried shrimp, water chestnuts and pork in a large bowl. Add the salt, pepper and potato flour. Stir in, a spoonful at a time, 3 tablespoons of water and the soaking liquid from the shrimp. |
| 8 |
Cut the ham into pieces the size of matchstick heads and mix with the rice in the pan. |
| 9 |
Pick up about 1 tablespoon of the pork mixture, roll it between your palms into a ball about the size of a Ping-Pong ball. Roll this ball over the rice and ham, making sure it is completely covered, and put it on a heatproof plate. Repeat until all the pork mixture is used. The pork balls will fill more than one plate. |
| 10 |
Steam the pork balls in a wok or steamer for 15 minutes. |
| 11 |
Serve the pearly balls hot, either piled up neatly in a bowl or arranged on a warm serving plate. |