Here's a detailed guide to making delicious Hokkien Bak Chang aka Chinese Rice Dumplings that's chock-full of savoury goodness and infused with the signature five-spice powder. Happy Dragon Boat Festival, y'all! This recipe makes 25-30 bak chang.
Wash 1 kg glutinous rice 3-5 times until the water runs clear.Soak the rice (make sure water more than covers the rice as the rice will expand) overnight or for at least 6 hours. (I soaked the rice for 12 hours)Darin off water the next day and set aside.
1 kg glutinous rice
Slice 600 g pork belly into about 1cm thickness. Marinate the pork belly with 1 tsp five spice powder, 1 tsp white pepper powder, 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine. Cover and chill in fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours. I marinated the meat for 12 hours)Before cooking the next day, remove from the fridge and bring it to room temperature.
1.5 tsp salt, 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine, 1 tsp white pepper powder, 1 tsp five spice powder, 600 g pork belly, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
Prepare the rest of the ingredients the next day
Cut 15 salted egg yolks (raw, not the cooked type) into half.Note: you can also add the entire egg yolk into the bak chang, if so, just make sure you have about 25-30 salted egg yolks. If you bought the entire salted egg, just extract the egg yolks from the egg whites.
15 salted egg yolks
Soak 80 g dried shrimps for about 30 minutes or until softened. Mince the dried shrimps finely.
80 g dried shrimps
Soak 15 dried shiitake mushrooms for about one hour or until softened. Save the mushroom water for cooking later. Cut off the mushroom stems, and cut the mushrooms into half.Take note, if the mushrooms are small (like a 20 cents coin), no need to cut it.
15 dried shiitake mushrooms
Peel the shallots and dice the shallots finely.
150 g shallots, 150 g shallots
Cook 30 dried Chestnuts in boiling water over high heat for 20 minutes until softened. Drain off the water. Remove the remaining red shells on the chestnuts.
30 dried Chestnuts
Cook the rice
Warm 4 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok or heavy based pan over medium heat. Add 150 g shallots and sauté until caramelised and aromatic.
4 tbsp vegetable oil, 150 g shallots
Add glutinous rice, 3/4 cup mushroom water, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp five spice powder, 1 tsp white pepper powder, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp oyster sauce. Mix well and cook until rice is evenly coated with seasoning. Rice should not be sticky. Remove from heat and let it cool down completely before wrapping the bak chang.
1 tsp five spice powder, 1 tsp white pepper powder, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tsp salt, 3/4 cup mushroom water, 2 tbsp oyster sauce
Cook the meat filling
Warm 6 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok or heavy based pan over medium heat.Add the dried shrimps and 150 g shallots, and sauté until the shallots turn caramelised and aromatic.
6 tbsp vegetable oil, 150 g shallots, 80 g dried shrimps
Add the marinated pork belly, 0.5 tsp salt, 0.5 tsp white pepper powder, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, and 1 cup mushroom water. Stir fry to mix well and let the pork belly cook for about 3 minutes.
0.5 tsp salt, 0.5 tsp white pepper powder, 1 cup mushroom water, 1 tbsp oyster sauce
Add chestnuts and mushrooms and stir fry to mix well and ensure the ingredients coat evenly with the seasonings.Lower the heat to simmering. Cover and cook for another 45 minutes until the meat is thoroughly cooked and softened. Add water if it dries out.Do a taste test and adjust seasonings accordingly. The meat should be saltier than normal (we will boil the bak chang later and the saltiness will dilute with the water).Remove from heat and let it cool down completely before wrapping the bak chang.
15 dried shiitake mushrooms, 30 dried Chestnuts
Prepare the bamboo leaves
Soak 70-80 bamboo leaves for 2 hours.Note; use a heavy bowl to push the leaves down so that they fully submerged into the water.
70-80 bamboo leaves
Then boil the leaves over high heat for 30 minutes.
Remove from the heat and wash the leaves under running water.Wipe off the water gently with a clean cloth. This will also help to remove any dirt that might be stuck on the leaves. Note: don’t use paper as the pulp will stick onto the leaves. Keep the leaves moist, otherwise dry leaves will crack while wrapping. If they dry out, simply rehydrate them by dipping them into water and wipe vwith a towel.
Soak 30-40 bamboo strings in water for one hour so that they become pliable for wrapping.
30-40 bamboo strings
Wrap the Bak Chang
Make sure the rice and meat filling have completely cooled down.Stack 2 leaves on top of each other. The smooth side of the leaves should face up and the stem side faced down.Fold into a cone shape.Note: choose the leaves that are not broken or have holes in between to avoid leakage.
Fill the cone up with about 1 tbsp of rice, filling up 1/3 of the cone. Make an indentation in the middle for the filling. (See 07:27 of the video)Then add pork belly, chestnuts, mushrooms, and salted egg yolk.Top up with 2-3 tbsp of rice. Press gently with the back of the spoon to make sure they are tight.
Slightly squeeze the two sides of the cone. Then fold the top over.Fold in the 2 sides to close the gap on the side of the cone. Then wrap the loose end of the bamboo leaves over. (See 08:21 of the video)
Use a long bamboo string, hold one end of the string and twirl the string around the bak chang 2-3 times. Tie the knot twice to secure the wrapping, but do not tie it too tight as the rice will expand after cooked and will explode out of the wrapping.
Cook the Bak Chang
Bring pot of water to boil over high heat.Add the bak chang to the pot of boiling water. Make sure the water more than covers the bak chang. Bring it to boil, then reduce heat to simmering. Simmer the bak chang, covered. Add water if the water level decreases. Stir every now and then to ensure the bak change is cooked evenly.The whole boiling process is 1.5 hours. Note: if cooked in pressure cooker, you will only need about 45 minutes.
Remove the cooked bak chang from the pot of water. Hang it to drain water off.
Best served warm.
Video
Notes
Take note:
This recipe makes about 30 (about 100g) bak chang which I liked as the portion is much smaller than the ones you buy in food stalls. If you wrap it in normal sizes (about 150-180g), it should yield about 25 bak chang.
The smooth non-ribbed side of the bamboo leaves face upwards when you wrap. The stem side faces down. Some recipes will soak the leaves overnight to make it pliable. My mummy told me to soak and boil them and I find this process faster.
The bamboo leaves are actually still quite dirty even after soaking and boiling. Be sure to wipe it with a clean cloth. Also ensure that the leaves and strings are moist so that they are pliable for wrapping the bak chang.
The salted egg yolks are the raw type, not the cooked ones. Some supermarket sell them in a whole, meaning the egg is wrapped with black mud, which you have to wash off and extract the egg yolk from the egg white.
You can opt to add an entire egg yolk into each bak chang, or use half of it.
The pork belly should be left marinated for at least 4 hours. The longer the better.
The meat filling, after cooked, should taste saltier than usual. This is alright as the bak chang will be boiled in water for more than an hour and the saltiness will be diluted into the water.
Cook the pork belly until the meat is soft and tender. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
When tying the knot around the bak chang, be sure not to tie it too tight. The rice will expand during boiling and the last thing you want is for the rice and filling to burst out of the bamboo leaves.
Nutrition
Calories: 387kcal
Keyword bak chang, dragon boat festival, glutinous rice, zong zi