Monday, June 22, 2015

大舅母's Bak Chang

The Dragon Boat Festival came and went over the weekend. On the social media, I've seen lots of postings on bak chang or rice dumplings. And well, it compelled me to write a post as well.

Mom invariably makes rice dumplings every year. This year, in fact, she had already bought some ingredients in preparation to make bak chang - like the preserved mustard and the coriander seeds and the dried winter melon strips. But because Grandma had suddenly passed away last month, no bak chang should be made in the household this year. That's according to the undertaker.

My Third Aunt told a story of the time when my great grandmother passed away. Because of the incident, no dumplings should be made. But out of ignorance, Grandma decided to make kee chang - a meatless dumpling made of glutinous rice and alkaline water. What happened was that one corner of the triangular dumpling refused to cook, no matter how long they boiled the dumpling in water!

Although Mom did not make any dumplings this year, we received many gifts of dumplings from our relatives! So generous of them!

This is 大舅母's dumpling. She is a professional dumpling maker. Meaning that she sells dumplings for a living. According to Mom and my aunts, 大舅母's dumplings come in a perfect triangular shape. And they always praise the quality of the glutinous rice in the dumpling. 大舅母 is so skilled that the glutinous rice is soft yet Q, and doesn't stick to the leaf.

Sharp angles on all sides .... 

Peel off the leaf ... 

A perfect triangular dumpling that does not stick to the leaf

The meat, yam paste, and chestnut inside the dumpling ... 

大舅母sells her dumplings at the Siang Siang Tabuan Jaya kueh stalls I think.

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