Ingredients
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Pork Filling
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800g Pork Belly; skin-on
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1 cup Shallot; sliced
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1 tsp Salt
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1/2 tsp Five Spice Powder
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2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
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Black Eye Peas Filling
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200 g Black Eye Peas
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1/2 cup Shallots; sliced
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1/2 tsp Salt
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1/4 tsp Five Spice Powder
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2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
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Rice Filling
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1 kg Glutinous Rice
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1 Tbsp Salt
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Others
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10 pcs Salted Duck Egg Yolk; halved
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Bamboo Leaves
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Cooking Twine
Directions
In Malaysia it also called Bak Zhang (Hokkien). This recipe follows the way my grandma used to make them. Till now, this is the best rice dumpling I love to eat. After grandma stop making them, mummy took over the tradition to make them yearly for Dragon Boat Festival.
Making Bak Zhang is one of the festival activities that I love to participate. Mummy would prepare the ingredients and we would wrap 50 to 100 dumplings. Depending on how many friends and families we are giving to. The whole process would take 2 days to complete.
Steps
1
Done
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Prepare Bamboo LeavesPrepare one day ahead of wrapping. Soak dried bamboo leaves for 30 mins. When leaves can easily bend without breaking, boil a big pot of water. Place bamboo leaves into boiling water and let it boil for 20 mins. Remove leaves from hot water and continue soaking overnight in tap water. |
2
Done
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Prepare RiceRinse and soak glutinous rice for 2 hrs. Drain rice. Season with salt and mix well. Taste one grain and adjust amount of salt. Throw away the rice grain. Keep seasoned rice aside. |
3
Done
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Prepare PorkCut pork to roughly 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm squares. Should have 40 pieces with 2 pieces for each dumpling. Heat up oil in a wok over high heat. Add shallots. Fry till fragrant then add pork. Stir around. Add salt and five spices powder. Stir to mix well. Dish up and set aside. |
4
Done
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Prepare Black Eyed PeasIn a pot of boiling water, add peas. Boil for 30 till peas are soft and looks splitting. Drain peas. Heat up oil in a wok over high heat. Add shallots. Fry till fragrant then add peas. Stir around. Add salt and five spices powder. Stir to mix well. Dish up and set aside. |
5
Done
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Prepare to wrap.Clean each bamboo leaf with a cloth under running tap water. Set aside. Cut 20 strings of 70cm each. Tie 10 strings into one bundle. Hang up one bundle so it helps with tying the dumplings later. |
6
Done
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Wrapping Rice DumplingsHave all the ingredients ready next to you. Place 2 bamboo leaves on each other with the vein bulge facing down. Widest part of the leaf should be furthest away from each other. Fold the leaves to make cone shape. Fill with some rice. Then 2 pieces meat, spoonful black eyed peas and half a salted egg yolk. Can use full yolk if they are of smaller size. If you cant find it, just omit. Lastly, loosely cover with more rice. With one hand holding up cone shape, the other hand fold leaves down to cover the top. then push down on both sides to make a triangle shape. Fold the head of the leaves to right side to seal cleanly. Use one string hung up earlier to tie up the dumpling. Tie 2 rounds and make a knot. Make sure the dumpling stay in shape and doesn't come loose. Too loose it will fall apart during cooking. Repeat wrapping till all ingredients finish. |
7
Done
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Cooking Rice DumplingBoil a big pot of water to boil over high heat. Place bundles of dumpling into the boiling water. Make sure water level cover the dumplings fully. Cover pot and let water comes to a boil again. Lower heat to medium high. Let it cook for 2 hours. Check on it every 30 minutes. Add water when water level is lower than dumplings. After 2 hours, lift bundles of dumplings out. Hang it to dry and drip leftover water off the dumplings. Should take about 30 mins or so. |
8
Done
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ServeCut one string to the dumplings. Unwrap to a plate. Serve! I love to eat dumplings with Kampung Koh Chili Sauce. You can also unwrapped and eat holding on to the bamboo leaves. |