Rice Dumplings <br> 粽子 <br/>

Hello there!

Recently I made rice dumplings (bak zhang) as Dragon Boat Festival is around the corner!

(This festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th month in Lunar calendar)

Making this traditional Chinese food involves quite complicated preparation works, I try to list down ingredients and steps by sequence, hope you will find it easy if you are referencing this recipe.

This is the first attempt making rice dumplings, sadly the end products were not so well-shaped, but definitely I will learn again & try to make an improved version :)

So now, let’s see how I had made rice dumplings for the very first time.

BAMBOO LEAVES & STRINGS

1. Soak bamboo leaves & strings two days prior to making rice dumplings. Change water every other day.

2. On the day of making rice dumplings, cook bamboo leaves & strings for about 20 min.

3. Snip tips of bamboo leaves.

4. Use a clean cloth to dry bamboo leaves & set aside first.

CRISPY FRIED SHALLOTS

1. Mince about 10 shallots and fry with slightly more oil until golden brown and crispy. Caution not to overcook as shallots will taste bitter.

*Crispy fried shallots will be added to cook with glutinous rice.

DRIED CHESTNUTS

1. Soak about 20 dried chestnuts one night before.

2. On the day of making rice dumplings, cook dried chestnuts for about 20 mins to soften the texture.

*Dried chestnuts will be added to cook with marinated pork.

DRIED MUSHROOMS

1. Soak about 10 dried mushrooms one night before. Halve soften dried mushrooms diagonally & set aside for later use.

*Dried mushrooms will be added to cook with marinated pork.

DRIED SHRIMPS

1. Soak about one handful of dried shrimps one night before, drain it & set aside for later use.

*Dried shrimps will be added to cook with glutinous rice.

MARINATED PORK

Marinade for 500g of pork shoulder

Oyster sauce x 1 Tbsp

Light soy sauce x 1 Tbsp

Dark soy sauce x 1 Tsp

Sesame oil x 1Tsp

White pepper powder x appropriate amount

Five-spice powder x appropriate amount

1. Marinate pork one night before (alternatively, two hours before making rice dumplings).

2. Using the oil used to fry shallots, stir fry marinated pork with mushrooms & chestnuts. Simmer for about 10 mins. Serve in a plate, and let it cool down.

GLUTINOUS RICE

1. Soak 500 grams of glutinous rice overnight & drain it.

2. Stir fry glutinous rice.

Seasoning

Oyster sauce x 1.5 Tbsp

Light soy sauce x 1.5 Tbsp

Dark soy sauce x appropriate amount

White pepper powder x appropriate amount

Salt x appropriate amount

i. Using the oil used to fry shallots, add in dried shrimps & stir fry for about 1 min.

ii. Toss in glutinous rice & continue to stir fry.

iii. Add in 2 Tbsp of crispy fried shallots & mix well.

iv. Season with oyster sauce & light soy sauce, 1.5 Tbsp each.

v. Drizzle appropriate amount of dark soy sauce to give color.

vi. Season with appropriate amount of white pepper powder & salt. Serve up & set aside to let cool.

FINALLY! All ingredients are ready for WRAPPING!

1. First, overlap 2 bamboo leaves in opposite direction & make a cone shape.

2. Fill in rice about 1/3 full at the bottom and press firmly.

3. Add in ingredients: pork, mushroom & chestnut, 1 piece each.

(You may add more to your liking.)

4. Fill up cone with more rice (almost full to the brim) and then press down firmly.

5. Fold leaves down to cover rice in the cone, flip the other round (cone tip pointing upward). Make sure fillings are secured inside cone.

6. And then gather leaves together and make a fold to the side.

7. Secure rice dumpling with bamboo string. Knot tightly so that fillings will not run out during cooking process.

8. The amount of ingredients used yielded up to 15 rice dumplings.

COOKING!

Boil water with one pandan leaves knot and pinch of salt, place in rice dumplings,

cover pot with lid & cook for about 1.5 - 2 hrs.

(If you're making bigger size rice dumplings, cooking time will be about 3 hrs.)

Postscript

The entire rice dumplings making process took me 3 days to complete from ingredients preparation to wrapping and to cooking it.

You can enjoy rice dumpling right away after it is cooked.

Nice to go with hot green tea :)

The remaining rice dumplings can be kept in freezer for about a month.

Whenever you want to eat it, thaw rice dumplings and steam / microwave until the whole piece is thoroughly heated.

Of course it is the best to finish it as soon as possible.

THANK YOU for your time & I hope you will like this sharing.

Video

#bakzhang #ricedumplings