Lion’s Mane Pork Balls with sweet chilli dipping sauce

Pork Balls
100g/3½oz glutinous rice (I used Basmati and it came out a bit more spikey, but in a fun way visually ;)
350g/12oz pork mince
2 garlic
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1½ tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese rice wine
1½ tbsp fresh chopped coriander
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


You can season the pork with anything you fancy, you don't need to stick to the ingredients above...

Dipping Sauce
3 tsp caster sugar
1½ tbsp sherry vinegar
1½ tbsp light soy sauce
2 small shallots
1-2 small red chillies
3 tsp sesame oil

Garnish
small bunch spring onions
1 cucumber
1 lemon

1. Whisk up all the ingredients for the Pork Balls, then add the pork and gently massage it all together with your fingers. Cover and chill for 30 minutes. Best to have the sink filled with some warm water to deal with the pork fat on your hands after doing this ;)

2. Meanwhile make the dipping sauce. Mix together the sugar, sherry vinegar and soy sauce until the sugar dissolves. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk together until combined. Cover with cling film and leave to infuse, stirring occasionally.

3. With wet hands, roll the pork mixture into walnut-sized balls and then roll in the rice to coat
evenly.

4. Line the base of the top section of a steamer with greaseproof paper, (I used lengths of leeks as I didn’t have any greaseproof paper… worked just fine…) then steam the balls in batches for 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Once cooked, skewer the pork balls, three at a time, onto wooden skewers and arrange on a serving platter.

Serve with the dipping sauce and garnish with shredded spring onion, cucumber and lemon wedges.