Homemade Bachang
Right now I am taking a break from my Cameron Highland foodie posts to talk about making dumplings, since Duan Wu Jie is coming soon. The festival falls on 19th June 2007 this year, if I am not mistaken.
Chang or zongzi are glutinous rice dumplings that are made every year during the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, to celebrate Duan Wu Jie. There are different types of rice dumplings, with savoury ones such as nyonya rice dumplings, salted rice dumplings with egg yolks, chilli shrimps rice dumplings, vegetarian rice dumplings and abalone rice dumplings as well as sweet rice dumplings made of alkaline water and red bean paste.
Duan Wu Jie is a day to commemorate the honorable Qu Yuan, a loyal minister of the State of Chu who committed suicide after he was exiled by the King. Every year on the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar, the Chinese held dragon boat festivals and make dumplings to remember the honorable Qu Yuan.
My late grandmother used to handmade salted egg yolks and fat pork glutinous rice dumplings, or bachang every year ever since I could remember, and they were the most delicious dumplings that I have ever tasted.
Last year during this time, we were coincidentally gathered at Aunty Khim’s house, and so we decided to get some ingredients and make some delicious bachang like how my grandmother used to.
I am rewriting everything based on my memory.
Ingredients:
2 catties of glutinous rice grain
1/2 catty pork belly
10 salted egg yoks
10 - 15 chestnuts (fung lut)
10-15 dried shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and soaked
100g dried shrimps, cleaned, and dried
300g mei dou, soaked and blanched (have yet to find out what is mei dou in English… some beans?)
This is the leaf to wrap the glutinous rice dumplings. They are bamboo leaves, and are imported from China. The dumplings wrapped in the bamboo leaves are then secured with hemp strings, although I’ve seen people using those plastic strings. Remember to soak and clean the leaves beforehand, and dry them before using.
This is the glutinous rice grain. Aunty Khim made hers by soaking them overnight in salted water, clean them and then fry them with salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sesame oil. She also added the mei dou and toss them together with the rice grains.
The pork belly, which is prepared by marinading them in light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, pepper and five spice powder. They are then stir fried with garlic.
Salted egg yolks. Aunty Khim halved them. You can use a whole yolk in one dumpling. Depends on how you like your dumplings.
Chestnuts, or fung lut. Blanched.
Different people includes different ingredients in their bachang, such as dried oysters, peanuts and such, so just prepare the ingredients accordingly.
Check out my next post on STEP BY STEP - HOW TO WRAP BACHANG.
