It is the Duan Wu Jie or Dumpling Festival and we do not need a better reason than to indulge in glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves (or lotus leaves). The only dumplings I really love are the ones made by my grandmother. Home made dumplings are always better than those commercial dumplings.
I pestered my grandmother for the recipe of bak chang or ham yoke chung (pork dumplings) so that I could learn to make it myself (one of these days…) and also to share with this blog’s readers. It is a very tedious process and the real secret is in how you wrap the rice and ingredients in the bamboo / lotus leaves. It is actually an acquired skill which can only be perfected through practice, practice and more practice!
Here it is:
Pork Dumplings (bak chang / ham yoke chung)
Ingredients
1kg glutinous rice, washed and soaked overnight
30 dried water chestnuts, soaked overnight to soften
100g dried shrimps
15 salted egg yolks
1/2kg pork belly (sam chan bak), chopped into slivers
50g dried mushrooms, soaked then quartered
2 garlic, chopped
dark soya sauce
salt
five spice powder
Instructions
1. Drain the rice. In a wok, heat up some oil and add in the garlic, stir fry till fragrant. Add in the rice and 3 tbsp of dark soya sauce and 1/2 tsp of salt. Stir fry till fragrant. Remove and set aside.
2. Using the same wok (don’t wash it), stir fry the pork. Add 2 tbsp dark soya sauce, pepper and 1 tbsp five spice powder. Add some water and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Using a clean wok, stir fry the dried shrimps (without oil) till fragrant. Then set aside. Repeat with the mushrooms.
4. Now, you are ready to wrap the ingredients into the bamboo leaves. Fold two bamboo leaves into a cone. Scoop a tbsp of rice into the cone, add 2 -3 shrimps, half of the salted egg yolk, one chestnut, a quarter of the mushroom (or half). Top it with another tbsp of rice. Fold the leaves down and wrap it around. Secure it with hemp string tightly.
5. Cook the dumplings traditionally over coal fire in a large pot of boiling water for about 2 hours (remembering to turn the dumplings after the first hour to make sure all of it are evenly cooked). Alternatively, you can use the pressure cooker to cook it for 45 minutes. You will have to test one to make sure it is really cooked before removing the rest from the heat.
This recipe makes 30 dumplings.
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