What dim sum meatball dish is coated with glutinous rice?

What dim sum meatball dish is coated with glutinous rice? Pearl meatballs are dim sum meatballs coated with glutinous rice.

The dish is usually made by mixing ground pork with seasonings and finely chopped ingredients such as ginger, scallions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, or lotus root. The mixture is shaped into balls and rolled in soaked, uncooked glutinous rice. Steaming cooks both the meat and the rice, leaving the grains looking like pale “pearls” around each meatball.

Pearl meatballs are traditionally associated with Hubei and Hunan cuisines, rather than being exclusively Cantonese. They are also part of Mianyang Sanzheng, known as the “Three Steamed Dishes of Mianyang.” Historically, they were served at festive occasions such as birthdays and Chinese New Year, although they are now commonly encountered as dim sum.

They are easy to confuse with ordinary steamed meatballs, which may be served on tofu skin, or Lion’s Head meatballs, which are generally braised or stewed with vegetables. The glutinous-rice coating is the defining clue for pearl meatballs.