Savoury Fujian Zong / Hokkien Bak Chang 福建肉粽
It is that time of the year again, time to eat glutinous rice dumplings in bamboo leaves (called ‘Zongzi 粽子’ in Chinese Mandarin, or just simply ‘Zong 粽’). This time of the year is of course the ‘Duan Wu Festival’ (端午節 which means ‘Day of Right Mid-Day’, or more popularly known as ‘Dragon Boat Festival’ to the Westerners) in the Chinese calender, which occurs every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (it falls on June 11th this year).
There are a few legends surrounding this festival. The most popular and touching legend has it that on this day, Chinese patriot of the State of Chu and Father of the Chinese Poetry, Qu Yuan (屈原 340 - 278 BC), committed ritual suicide in desperation by throwing himself into the Miluo river (in today's Hunan Province) to protest against the corrupt government during the tumultuous Warring States period (476 - 221 BC). On hearing of the suicide of their beloved son, the people of the State of Chu rushed to the river and tried desperately to save him by beating drums and splashing water with the oars of their boats to scare away the fish and the evil spirits from his body. Failing to find his body, they started throwing rice into the river to prevent his spirit from hunger. However, late one night, Qu Yuan’s spirit appeared before his close friends and told them that a huge river dragon had intercepted the rice that they had scattered for him. He asked them to wrap the rice into three-cornered silk packages to ward off the dragon. Thus the rice dumpling known as ‘Zongzi’ was born. Today of course the rice is wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves instead of the silk and Chinese all over the world holds Dragon Boat Races and makes Zongzi every year on this day to commemorate Qu Yuan.
All over China, there are many different versions and shapes of the Zongzi. The ones that I am familiar and grew up with are from the Fujian (Hokkien) province of southern China. One is the golden-colour Alkaline Zong (‘Kee Chang 鹼粽’ in Chinese Hokkien) and the other is the savoury Meat Zong (‘Bak Chang 肉粽’ in Chinese Hokkien). I first learnt to wrap these savoury rice dumplings about 3 - 4 years ago by accident. A couple of weeks before the festival, I went shopping and intended to buy a bag of Thai Jasmine rice but instead brought home a big bag of glutinous rice by mistake. Trying to find a way of using up the glutinous rice and since the festival was near, I hinted about making zongzi to a few relatives and finally ended up learning to wrap the dumplings from them. And boy, did it take a lot of skill to wrap these dumplings in the traditional four-point triangular shapes! I tried making them again last year by myself without any help and one quarter of the dumplings threw a tantrum by spilling all their rice and filling into the water during the cooking process in protest of my wrapping skill! This year is my third attempt – and mercifully, all 24 dumplings kept their shapes after cooking without any incident. I also managed to keep the four-point of the dumplings at least quite uniformly this time instead of the elongated shape of last year, but still got quite a way to go yet before they look presentable without bits of leaves sticking out here and there! I still find it very hard to wrap them in bunches (traditionally done in bunches so they can be hang up to drip dry after cooking), I can only do them singly – hopefully practice makes perfect and next year can advance to wrapping them in bunches!
For those of you wanting to learn to make your own zongzi, it is definitely too daunting a task to make them in one day unless you have a lot of help and a lot of free time. It is better, in my opinion, to divide the task of making these dumplings, preferably, into 3 days so they are more manageable. I think it is definitely very worthwhile to keep up this wonderful tradition of wrapping zongzi for the festival and learn from your elders before all our generation lose this special skill, which will be a shameful legacy for the future generation.
Adapted from the recipe ‘Hokkien Bak Chang’ in ‘Dorothy Ng’s Complete Asian Meals’ by Dorothy Ng, published by Exley Publications (Times Books International), 1981.
Makes approx. 20+ rice dumplings.
[Ingredients]
40 - 60 pieces dried bamboo leaves
20 - 30 strings for tying
For Rice:
1 kg glutinous rice
4 - 5 tablespoons peanut oil
2 -3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons (mushroom flavoured) dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
For Pork Filling:
600g belly pork
4 tablespoons peanut oil
Seasoning for pork:
2 -3 cloves garlic
10 shallots (Asian eschalots)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon (mushroom flavoured) dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
For Other Filling:
50g (or more) dried shrimps
6 (or more) dried Chinese mushrooms
150g (1 packet of about 40) dried chestnuts (see Tip)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
Seasoning:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (shaoxing cooking wine)
a good dash of ground white pepper
1/4 cup soaking liquid from dried shrimps & mushrooms
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
First Night:
1. Slice belly pork (into about 40 - 60 bite-size slices) and marinate with seasoning. Cover and put into the refrigerator overnight.
2. Soak dried shrimps and mushrooms in enough water to cover overnight.
3. Boil dried chestnuts in enough water to cover for about 30 minutes. Drain and cool. Remove any remnant skins by prickling them out with a bamboo skewer or prongs of a fork. Cover and put into the refrigerator overnight.
Second Night:
1. For the pork: Peel and mince garlic. Peel and slice shallots. Heat 4 tablespoons peanut oil in a wok, sauté sliced shallots for a few minutes over medium heat until softened. Add minced garlic and continue to sauté until the garlic and shallots are light golden brown in colour. Add drained belly pork (reserve marinade) and stir-fry for a few minutes until colour changes. Add marinade, cover the wok with lid and let steam for a couple of minutes until the pork is cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Remove to a container and let cool. Cover and put into the refrigerator until ready to be used.
2. For the Other Filling: Drain soaked shrimps and mushrooms, reserve soaking liquid (discard any grits in the bottom of the soaking liquid). Slice mushrooms thinly. Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in the wok, put in soaked shrimps, sliced mushrooms and chestnuts, stir-fry briefly then add in seasoning, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover with lid and let steam until all the liquid evaporates. Remove to a container and let cool. Cover and put into the refrigerator until ready to be used.
3. Wash glutinous rice then add any remaining soaking liquid from soaking shrimps and mushrooms. Top up with sufficient water to cover and soak overnight.
4. Separate bamboo leaves and soak in enough water to cover overnight. Use something heavy (a mortar bowl for example) to press down if necessary.
Third Day/Night:
1. Drain glutinous rice. Mince garlic. Heat peanut oil and sauté minced garlic briefly. Add rice and seasoning, taste and adjust if necessary – seasoning should be a bit saltier than normal because boiling the dumplings later will dilute the saltiness. Stir-fry over moderate heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Wash soaked bamboo leaves (wear kitchen glove to prevent cutting yourself, I use a soft brush to scrub each leaf clean) and drip dry in a large colander. Trim off stiff stalk ends. Start boiling water in a large pot for cooking rice dumplings.
3. For each dumpling, shape 2 bamboo leaves like a cone, put in some rice, pressing some along the sides. Add 2 - 3 slices pork, 2 - 3 slices mushrooms, some shrimps and 1 - 2 chestnut(s) in the centre. Cover with more rice. Wrap up into a four-point triangle and bind securely with string.
4. Boil rice dumplings for about 2 hours. When rice dumplings are cooked, remove and drip dry. Serve hot.
[Tip]
You may substitute chestnuts with skinless dried mung beans (1 packet of 400g should be enough), just rinse them (no need to cook first) then use as part of the filling.
[Note]
Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
There are a few legends surrounding this festival. The most popular and touching legend has it that on this day, Chinese patriot of the State of Chu and Father of the Chinese Poetry, Qu Yuan (屈原 340 - 278 BC), committed ritual suicide in desperation by throwing himself into the Miluo river (in today's Hunan Province) to protest against the corrupt government during the tumultuous Warring States period (476 - 221 BC). On hearing of the suicide of their beloved son, the people of the State of Chu rushed to the river and tried desperately to save him by beating drums and splashing water with the oars of their boats to scare away the fish and the evil spirits from his body. Failing to find his body, they started throwing rice into the river to prevent his spirit from hunger. However, late one night, Qu Yuan’s spirit appeared before his close friends and told them that a huge river dragon had intercepted the rice that they had scattered for him. He asked them to wrap the rice into three-cornered silk packages to ward off the dragon. Thus the rice dumpling known as ‘Zongzi’ was born. Today of course the rice is wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves instead of the silk and Chinese all over the world holds Dragon Boat Races and makes Zongzi every year on this day to commemorate Qu Yuan.
All over China, there are many different versions and shapes of the Zongzi. The ones that I am familiar and grew up with are from the Fujian (Hokkien) province of southern China. One is the golden-colour Alkaline Zong (‘Kee Chang 鹼粽’ in Chinese Hokkien) and the other is the savoury Meat Zong (‘Bak Chang 肉粽’ in Chinese Hokkien). I first learnt to wrap these savoury rice dumplings about 3 - 4 years ago by accident. A couple of weeks before the festival, I went shopping and intended to buy a bag of Thai Jasmine rice but instead brought home a big bag of glutinous rice by mistake. Trying to find a way of using up the glutinous rice and since the festival was near, I hinted about making zongzi to a few relatives and finally ended up learning to wrap the dumplings from them. And boy, did it take a lot of skill to wrap these dumplings in the traditional four-point triangular shapes! I tried making them again last year by myself without any help and one quarter of the dumplings threw a tantrum by spilling all their rice and filling into the water during the cooking process in protest of my wrapping skill! This year is my third attempt – and mercifully, all 24 dumplings kept their shapes after cooking without any incident. I also managed to keep the four-point of the dumplings at least quite uniformly this time instead of the elongated shape of last year, but still got quite a way to go yet before they look presentable without bits of leaves sticking out here and there! I still find it very hard to wrap them in bunches (traditionally done in bunches so they can be hang up to drip dry after cooking), I can only do them singly – hopefully practice makes perfect and next year can advance to wrapping them in bunches!
For those of you wanting to learn to make your own zongzi, it is definitely too daunting a task to make them in one day unless you have a lot of help and a lot of free time. It is better, in my opinion, to divide the task of making these dumplings, preferably, into 3 days so they are more manageable. I think it is definitely very worthwhile to keep up this wonderful tradition of wrapping zongzi for the festival and learn from your elders before all our generation lose this special skill, which will be a shameful legacy for the future generation.
Adapted from the recipe ‘Hokkien Bak Chang’ in ‘Dorothy Ng’s Complete Asian Meals’ by Dorothy Ng, published by Exley Publications (Times Books International), 1981.
Makes approx. 20+ rice dumplings.
[Ingredients]
40 - 60 pieces dried bamboo leaves
20 - 30 strings for tying
For Rice:
1 kg glutinous rice
4 - 5 tablespoons peanut oil
2 -3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons (mushroom flavoured) dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
For Pork Filling:
600g belly pork
4 tablespoons peanut oil
Seasoning for pork:
2 -3 cloves garlic
10 shallots (Asian eschalots)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon (mushroom flavoured) dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
For Other Filling:
50g (or more) dried shrimps
6 (or more) dried Chinese mushrooms
150g (1 packet of about 40) dried chestnuts (see Tip)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
Seasoning:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (shaoxing cooking wine)
a good dash of ground white pepper
1/4 cup soaking liquid from dried shrimps & mushrooms
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
First Night:
1. Slice belly pork (into about 40 - 60 bite-size slices) and marinate with seasoning. Cover and put into the refrigerator overnight.
2. Soak dried shrimps and mushrooms in enough water to cover overnight.
3. Boil dried chestnuts in enough water to cover for about 30 minutes. Drain and cool. Remove any remnant skins by prickling them out with a bamboo skewer or prongs of a fork. Cover and put into the refrigerator overnight.
Second Night:
1. For the pork: Peel and mince garlic. Peel and slice shallots. Heat 4 tablespoons peanut oil in a wok, sauté sliced shallots for a few minutes over medium heat until softened. Add minced garlic and continue to sauté until the garlic and shallots are light golden brown in colour. Add drained belly pork (reserve marinade) and stir-fry for a few minutes until colour changes. Add marinade, cover the wok with lid and let steam for a couple of minutes until the pork is cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Remove to a container and let cool. Cover and put into the refrigerator until ready to be used.
2. For the Other Filling: Drain soaked shrimps and mushrooms, reserve soaking liquid (discard any grits in the bottom of the soaking liquid). Slice mushrooms thinly. Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in the wok, put in soaked shrimps, sliced mushrooms and chestnuts, stir-fry briefly then add in seasoning, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover with lid and let steam until all the liquid evaporates. Remove to a container and let cool. Cover and put into the refrigerator until ready to be used.
3. Wash glutinous rice then add any remaining soaking liquid from soaking shrimps and mushrooms. Top up with sufficient water to cover and soak overnight.
4. Separate bamboo leaves and soak in enough water to cover overnight. Use something heavy (a mortar bowl for example) to press down if necessary.
Third Day/Night:
1. Drain glutinous rice. Mince garlic. Heat peanut oil and sauté minced garlic briefly. Add rice and seasoning, taste and adjust if necessary – seasoning should be a bit saltier than normal because boiling the dumplings later will dilute the saltiness. Stir-fry over moderate heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Wash soaked bamboo leaves (wear kitchen glove to prevent cutting yourself, I use a soft brush to scrub each leaf clean) and drip dry in a large colander. Trim off stiff stalk ends. Start boiling water in a large pot for cooking rice dumplings.
3. For each dumpling, shape 2 bamboo leaves like a cone, put in some rice, pressing some along the sides. Add 2 - 3 slices pork, 2 - 3 slices mushrooms, some shrimps and 1 - 2 chestnut(s) in the centre. Cover with more rice. Wrap up into a four-point triangle and bind securely with string.
4. Boil rice dumplings for about 2 hours. When rice dumplings are cooked, remove and drip dry. Serve hot.
[Tip]
You may substitute chestnuts with skinless dried mung beans (1 packet of 400g should be enough), just rinse them (no need to cook first) then use as part of the filling.
[Note]
Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
posted by SeaDragon @ 8.6.05
5 Comments:
your savoury bak chang make me homesick. I want to make it tomorrow, could you tell me did you cook all the rice dumpling in a big pot? what should I do if the water is not enough? or should I boiled the rice dumpling for twice? please give me advice!!!! Thanks!
QQ red apple,
I used my wok to boil the bak changs. I don't have a pot big enough. Just make sure all the dumplings are submerged under the water when cooking. Remember to top up with hot water when it evaporates.
If you can't fit all in in one go, boil in two batches. Keep the ones waiting to be cooked in the fridge and boil them once the first batch is done. HTH.
Hi,
I made my 1st bak chang today, I did follow your recipes and I separated my bak chang to 2 different pots to boil them. Thanks for your helps and useful tips. I'll post it later and will tell you how it taste!!! Anyway, now I smell the fragnant already. Thanks !!!!! Dank U Well!!!!!!!!(dutch-- thank u)
Hi,
Finally I posted my trditional savoury bak chang.Come to have a look. Thank U Shih Fu! U'r my master....hehehhe... Thx gain. It is so delicious but I still need to practice how to wrap it.
QQ red apple,
Will pop over to have a look :)
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