Hello Friday.
March 28 2025
Reader Sue E. asked us for recipes from local restaurants. Our response: order up.
Chewology chef Katie Liu-Sung is helping us kick off this new series with a dish from her childhood: Taiwanese pearl meatballs. With a little prep, this recipe is super easy to make — and while it isn’t on the restaurant’s regular menu, keep an eye out, and you might just see it offered as a special.
Taiwanese pearl meatballs | Photo by Chewology
Ingredients (makes 30 meatballs):
- 1 cup glutinous rice* (Nishiki, RiceSelect, and Hakubai are some locally available options.)
- 3/4 pound lean ground pork
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white peppercorns
- 1/4 pound finely chopped shrimp
- 8 freshwater chestnuts, finely minced, rinsed, peeled and minced*
- 1/4 cup minced green onion
- 1 egg
Equipment:
- Bamboo steamer* (or similar)
- Lotus or cabbage leaves*
* Glutinous rice, freshwater chestnuts, lotus leaves, and bamboo steamers are found at Asian supermarkets. Glutinous rice is also gluten-free (despite the name).
Chef Katie Liu-Sung | Photo by Pilsen Photo Co-op
Steps:
- Soak rice in water for 3 hours; drain. (This ensures the rice cooks evenly.)
- In a mixing bowl, combine pork with ginger, garlic, sugar, salt, sesame oil, and white pepper. Mix until pork takes on a sticky consistency. Mix in shrimp, water chestnuts, onions, and egg until well combined.
- Line bamboo steamers with soaked lotus or cabbage leaves. Roll seasoned pork into 30 balls the size of a tablespoon. Spread rice on a plate and gently roll each meatball over grains to cover the entire meatball and place in the steamer. Steam meatballs over boiling water on high for 20 minutes.
- Serve meatballs in the bamboo steamer or move to a serving plate.
Craving more? Let us know what restaurant you'd like to see next.
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Today
- Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias | Thurs., Feb. 3 | 8 p.m. | Cable Dahmer Arena | $96+ | The comedian famous for his stand-up specials on Netflix and Comedy Central comes to KC for one night. 🗣️
- Gallery Guided Meditation | Thurs., Feb. 3 | 7 p.m. | Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick Blvd., Kansas City, MO | Free | Participants will be guided through meditation, qigong, breathing instruction, and sound healing in the "Contemporary Art and the Missouri Bicentennial" galleries.
Friday
- Störling Dance Theater’s “Underground” | Fri., Feb. 4-Sat. Feb. 5 | Times vary | The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts | $38+ | The story of the Underground Railroad is performed to an original score.
- Bridge & Wolak | Fri., Feb. 4 | 8 p.m. | The Polsky Theatre, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS | $25+ | Check out the duo that mixes traditional acoustic instruments + 21st century digital technology to create a one of a kind experience. 🎛️
Saturday
- Devoured Food Truckathon | Sat., Feb. 5 | 12-5 p.m. | Strange Days Brewing Co., 316 Oak St., Kansas City, MO | Price of purchase | For the love of pizza, join Devoured Pizza + friends to help fundraise their food truck build out. 🍕
- Modern Night at the Gem | Sat., Feb. 5 | 7:30-10:30 p.m. | Gem Theatre, 1615 E. 18th St., Kansas City, MO | $18+ | Showcasing choreographers from across the region. 💎
We have a monthly guide filled with events + activities you can plan for in advance. Click the button below to bookmark ideas for upcoming date nights, family outings, and time with friends.
Weather
- 19º | Partly cloudy | 3% chance of snow
- Planning to brave the snow? Be sure to check KCMO’s snow plow tracker map, which tells you how long it’s been since a plow or salt truck has passed on a street.
Festival
- Organizers for Boulevardia 2022 have announced the festival’s grand lineup. It features Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats + Dashboard Confessional as headliners, plus Jenny Lewis, Dayglow, and 60+ other acts. Boulevardia is slated for June 17-18 and will be the first since 2019.
Biz
- Hawaiian Bros Inc. has secured a $25 million equity investment, in addition to $12 million raised in Q4. The Belton-based chain is eyeing its tenth metro location in Blue Springs, with plans to add 20+ locations this year.
Development
- A multipurpose learning space, classrooms + and outdoor learning space will be part of the newly approved addition to Shawnee Mission East. The Prairie Village Planning Commission approved the 7,600-sqft expansion Tuesday. (Shawnee Mission Post)
- Pembroke Hill School’s $52 million expansion is complete, including the 53,000-sqft Bellis Athletic Center, the 16,000-sqft Patterson Hall dining room, and a half-acre green space called The Lawn. The dining hall’s 36-ft tall windows feature latticework by Mexico City sculptor Jan Hendrix. (CityScene KC)
Featured
- The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is now a stop on the national Civil Rights Trail, joining landmarks like St. Louis’s Old Courthouse (where Dred Scott v. Sandford was first heard) and the former Monroe Elementary historic site in Topeka. Visit the museum for the remainder of Black History Month — the Royals will cover your admission. (KCUR)
Coming Soon
- River Bluff Brewing plans to open in the middle of this month at 2nd and Main streets. The brewery will take up residence in the old Water Department building in the River Market, with a patio + garage door for nicer days. (CityScene KC)
- Café Equinox, a Shawnee coffee shop operated by Thou Mayest out of the Family Tree Nursery, is opening its renovated space in mid-March. Owner Jesse Nelson hopes the new L-shaped coffee bar will cater to visitors enjoying the atmosphere of the greenhouse. (Kansas City Business Journal)
History
- The Johnson County Museum opened its new special exhibition, Redlined: Cities, Suburbs, and Segregation. The exhibit visualizes how redlining — “the systematic disinvestment of some neighborhoods and populations” — has shaped both Johnson County and the greater Kansas City area. (Shawnee Mission Post)
Job
- 6AM City (our parent company) is hiring a Multi-City Editor to plan, write, edit + publish the most relevant and conversational daily content about our cities. You’ll work with a team of editors across the country to produce and manage features for the newsletter, website and social channels. See details and apply.
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It was a dark morning. Streets piled high with snow. Bitter chill in the air. The hard-working citizens of Kansas City despaired at the aftermath of the storm. And then…
Brushy McBrushface, KC Streetcar’s hardworking snow sweeper, came to the rescue. (And judging by the comments, they may be giving him the Potato Head treatment. We’re kind of hoping for another snow.)
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Editor's pick: Major shoutout to Revocup where, after a brisk walk from Walnut up to Delaware, and then back across Grand Boulevard and McGee, I finally found a cup of coffee in the tundra. The best cortado is the one you drink after trekking a mile uphill in the snow (and the one with a little brown sugar mixed in).
Missed yesterday's newsletter? You'll want to read it again and again.
KCtoday Team
Editorial: Skylar, Travis, Dayten, Josh
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