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1
Soak the glutinous rice in cold water for a minimum of 4 hours, so that each grain absorbs enough moisture to finish cooking gently in the steam rather than remaining chalky at its core. Drain thoroughly and spread in an even layer on a wide plate. The grains should be swollen and opaque but still raw to the touch.
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2
Combine the minced pork, diced water chestnuts, egg, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, white pepper, cornstarch, scallion, and ginger in a bowl. Mix vigorously until the mixture is fully cohesive and pulls away from the sides of the bowl with a slightly sticky, unified texture — this is where the dish lives or dies: an under-mixed farce will not hold its shape through steaming, while an evenly blended, tacky mass signals that the proteins have bound and will set firm around the water chestnuts' crunch.
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3
Divide the mixture and roll into round balls of approximately 3–4 cm diameter, working quickly so the warmth of your hands does not soften the fat in the pork and loosen the bind. Each ball should be smooth and compact, with no visible cracks.
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4
Roll each meatball gently in the drained glutinous rice, pressing lightly so that the grains adhere to every surface, because any bare patch of pork will seal over during steaming and leave a tough, skinned spot beneath a cluster of fallen grains. The finished ball should carry a single, even layer of rice grains with no bare patches of pork visible and no grains stacked atop one another.
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5
Cut squares of parchment paper and set one meatball on each, so the balls release cleanly without tearing the rice coat that has just been pressed on. Arrange in a bamboo steamer with small gaps between the balls, set the steamer over a wok of rapidly boiling water, and steam for 20–25 minutes. The rice is done when every grain has swollen to translucency and carries a glossy, pearl-like sheen; the underlying pork should show no trace of pink when a ball is broken open.