Eight-Treasure Meat Balls

Ingredients

• equal parts pork (lean and fatty)
• pine nuts (songrenfu)
• shiitake mushroom (xianggu)
• bamboo shoot tip (sunzhao)
• water chestnut (bizhe)
• candied ginger (guajiang)
• cornstarch (charfen)
• sweet rice wine (tianjiu)
• autumn-pressed soy sauce (qiuyou)

Instructions

1. Mince together lean and fatty pork in equal parts until fine. Separately mince the pine nuts, shiitake mushroom, bamboo shoot tips, water chestnuts, and candied ginger — all to a fine paste.
2. Combine the minced pork with the minced aromatics and treasures. Add cornstarch and bind the mixture by hand into balls. Arrange the balls in a steaming vessel.
3. Season with sweet rice wine and autumn-pressed soy sauce (qiuyou). Steam until cooked through. The result should be tender and crisp on the palate.