White Radish Sticky Rice Balls 蘿蔔糯米丸 (luó bó nuò mǐ wǎn) is a Hakka dish that combines some of my favorites into one easy to make ball. It’s perfect as a meal or an appetizer. Consider making this when you’re entertaining or when you’re going to your next pot luck.
I have a funny story about this dish….so I’m at the supermarket and I see some really nice white radish on sale. I didn’t want to make steamed white radish cake yet since I’ll be making it for Chinese New Year. Then I suddenly got the idea to combine the pan-fried glutinous rice 生炒糯米飯 (shēng chaò nuò mǐ fàn) and the steamed radish cake 蒸蘿蔔糕 (zhēng luó bó gaō) and make it into a ball. They already have ingredients in common, like the Chinese preserved sausages, shiitake mushrooms and pork. So I make it and it’s perfect! Easy and tasty! I’m patting myself on the back thinking that I’m so brilliant!
I wrote the recipe and started to work on what I could name my masterpiece….as I start searching for name inspirations for my creation on the internet, I come across multiple recipes in Chinese for pretty much the same thing! What?!! Apparently the Hakka people already thought of this dish a thousand years ago! It’s just not that well known. So, I basically reinvented the wheel!
Although disappointed, I’m still first to give this dish an English name, I think. At least nothing came up through my Google search. The bad thing though is that no one’s going to search it up since no one’s ever heard of it LOL! Perhaps that’s why no one has made this recipe in English. Oh well, I don’t mind taking the road less travelled.
In my White Radish Sticky Rice Balls 蘿蔔糯米丸 recipe, I’ll show you an easy way to combine the flavours of the iconic pan-fried glutinous rice and the steamed radish cake. These two dishes are a bit on the complicated side. Surprisingly, when you combine them, it becomes an easy dish. The balls have a bit of a starchy and soft texture similar to steamed radish cake. The sticky rice still has some bite to it and the flavour is similar to pan-fried glutinous rice. I added quite a bit of white radish but you can reduce the amount to suit your taste.
Give this simple recipe that I did not invent a try, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!
Check out some dishes that I did invent, one of my favourites is the Steamed Winter Melon with Pork 瑤柱豬肉片釀冬瓜. Check out My Creations section for more recipes!
White Radish Sticky Rice Balls 糯米蘿蔔絲丸
Ingredients
- 1200 g White radish aka lo bak, shredded
- 1 c Glutinous rice , uncooked
- 2 Chinese sausages aka lap cheung, diced
- 225 g Ground pork
- 4 Large shiitake mushrooms , diced
- 2 Large shallot , sliced
- ½ stalk Green onions (green part only), chopped
- 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- 2 tsp Oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 1/8 tsp White pepper powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 6 tbsp Sweet potato starch , potato starch or tapioca starch
- 3 tbsp Wheat starch
Ingredients for ground pork marinade:
- ¼ tsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Corn starch
Instructions
- Soak glutinous rice in water for 4 hours. Rinse and let dry in colander.
I don’t recommend soaking overnight as rice may get too soft after cooking 
- Soak shiitake mushrooms for approx. 4 hours. Soaking time depends on thickness of the shiitakes. You may also soak overnight
- Marinate ground pork in ¼ tsp sugar, ½ tsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp corn starch. Mix well
- Shred white radish. Add 1 tsp salt and mix well
- Remove stems on shiitakes and dice
- Submerse Chinese sausages in boiling water for 5 seconds and then wipe dry. Dice
This step is to remove dust and impurities - Slice shallots and chop green onions
- Take some of the white radish in your hands and squeeze out the water. You may also use a cheese cloth to extract water.
You do not need to wring out all the water. Retaining some of the moisture will help keep the rice balls moist - In a wok or pan, on medium-high heat, add 2 tbsp oil. Add ground pork. Fry until 70% cooked. Remove from wok and leave the oil
- Add sliced shallots and fry until softened
- Add diced Chinese sausage. Stir-fry for one minute
- Add diced shiitake mushrooms. Stir-fry and mix well
- Add ground pork back into the wok. Stir-fry and mix well
- Add 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, ½ tsp sugar and 1/8 tsp white pepper powder. Mix well
- Add soaked glutinous rice, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce and 1 tsp oyster sauce. Mix well
- Turn off heat
- Add shredded white radish. Mix well
- Add 6 tbsp sweet potato starch and 3 tbsp wheat starch. Mix well
- Form into 4cm balls and place onto a plate that is suitable for steaming.
If you want to make the balls larger, you’ll need to steam them for a longer time. Optional: you can put them into aluminum cupcake liners or mini pie tins for serving convenience 
- Steam for 15 minutes on high heat
They’re ready when the rice is cooked - Garnish with chopped green onions and serve
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