The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Taking on the challenge to make rice dumplings Posted: 12 Jun 2013 05:01 AM PDT The Dumpling Festival has always been a time to indulge in the delicious delicacy. This year, StarMetro reporters take on the challenge to make their own rice dumplings. HAVING eaten bak chang (rice dumplings) for many years, we come to a realisation that the best dumplings are homemade. We decided to try our hand at making our own dumplings, partly for our own experience and also to impress our colleagues. Looking for an expert in dumpling-making was not an easy task but thankfully our colleague, photographer Art Chen heard of our plight and offered to ask his mother to lend us a helping hand. All geared up, we drove for 90 minutes to Tanjung Sepat to meet her. Chen's mother, Ng Kee Hong, 77, was well prepared for our arrival. She meticulously prepared the ingredients and laid them out in the kitchen, just like those cookery programmes one would watch on television. Ng has been making dumplings for over 45 years. "I did not know how to make the dumplings when I first got married. I learn from observing my mother-in-law when she was making them. "I started making dumplings as my children love it and request for it during the festival every year," said the loving mother. Both her daughters had also perfected the recipe and it had become a tradition for the family to enjoy homemade dumplings every year. Ng, who used to sell economy rice for 20 years, is an expert cook and her Hokkien-style dumplings are to die for. For our lesson, she used are chicken, mushroom, salted egg yolk, onion, fresh and fried garlic, chestnut and dried prawns together with glutinous rice. "The glutinous rice has to be soaked for half an hour before it is slowly stir-fried with black bean and soy sauces. All the ingredients are easily available at the grocery shops. "For 40 over small dumplings you need 2kg of chicken meat and 1kg of glutinous rice. "But of course, all quantities go by the rough estimation method," she said. As Ng instructed us on the cooking methods, she also generously doled out some tips. The chestnut had to be steamed before removing its skin. First order of business was to fry the onion and garlic in a little bit of oil. One of Ng's tips was to keep stirring the ingredients in the wok carefully to make sure they did not brown, which could overwhelm the other flavours. Next, the dried prawns were cooked until fragrant, before adding in mushrooms and chestnuts. Finally the chicken was added in. After it started to cook, we added the required seasoning such as five-spice powder, salt, pepper, black bean sauce, soy sauce and fried garlic and onion. The next order of business was one Priya was dreading — wrapping the dumpling. She had tried it once before and found it to be very difficult. Wrapping the dumpling is an art on its own. Only skilled hands can ensure that the shape and size of the dumplings are consistent. As we were stuffing the leaves with the ingredients, she kept telling us to put in more meat. It was evident this was one generous cook. "You must ensure it is wrapped properly. You do not want the ingredients to ooze out when you put them to boil. That will ruin the whole dumpling. "But, you cannot tie it too tightly as the glutinuous rice will expand when it is being cooked," she added. Ng made it look easy but it was a tough task for us as we fumbled with the leaves. After several failed attempts, we managed to get the hang of wrapping and tying the dumplings. It also helped that Ng was encouraging and patient. Exhausted from the laborious task, we marvelled at the work that some housewives put in to make their own rice dumplings. Even with four of us making the dumplings, we took more than an hour to wrap them up. After that, the dumplings were put into boiling water for over one-and-a-half hours. The cooking time also depended on how sticky you want the rice to be. The stickier they are, the longer you boil them. Ng was very modest and kept saying she was not an expert and her dumplings were not pretty to look at. However, her dumplings were beautifully-wrapped and after tasting them, we can attest to the fact that her cooking skills were superb. However, she does not plan to make her dumplings for sale as she finds the process too laborious. The final product was delicious, thanks to her experience with the seasoning and ingredients. Despite the joy of eating our own dumplings, we decided that dumpling-making should be left to the experts. Rice dumpling recipe Ingredients needed: 2kg whole chicken (cleaned anddeboned) 1kg glutinous rice 60g diced onions 3 whole garlic 200g chestnut (steamed and skin removed) 300g dried shrimps 250g mushroom Fried garlic Salted egg yolks Food enhancer Salt and pepper to taste Black bean sauce Soy sauce Bamboo leaves and hemp strings Cooking method: 1. Heat some oil in a pan and add in onions and garlic, fry till light brown or fragrant. 2. Add in dried prawns and fry till fragrant. 3. Put in mushrooms and chestnuts. 4. Add in chicken meat followed by the seasoning. Salt and pepper to taste. 5. Stir till chicken is cooked. Remove from pan. 6. Shape two banana leaves into a cone and begin filling the dumpling. 7. Start with a little bit of rice, followed by a salted egg yolk and chicken filling. Complete with another layer of rice. 8. Delicately wrap and tie the dumpling. (Tip: tie several strings together and hang it up, it is easier to tie the dumplings this way). 9. Boil water in a huge pot with cover. Add in dumplings and cook for an hour and a half. 10. Ensure the water covers the dumplings. 11. Remove and place on a piece of paper till water drains out. Ready to be served. |
| Origins of the Dumpling Festival Posted: 12 Jun 2013 05:01 AM PDT ALTHOUGH many associate the Dumpling Festival, with the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, the Chinese have long celebrated the festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The festival is also known as the Dragon Boat Festival or Dun Wu Jie in Mandarin. According to Professor Lim Chooi Kwa, an adjunct professor who used to teach classical Chinese literature, it was summertime in May and there were water activities including dragon boat races. Lim said the story of Qu Yuanonly came into the picture during the Warring States period. "He was accused by corrupted officials and the nation later fell into enemy hands. "Despaired, he committed suicide by throwing himself into a river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. "People threw dumplings into the river so that the fishes will not eat the corpse of their beloved poet," said Lim. "It is believed that the tradition of eating dumplings has long existed before this incident. "However, dumplings are most commonly associated with this incident and some even thought dumplings are created because of this, just like how mooncakes are associated with the moon goddess even though the Mid-Autumn Festival was initially celebrated as a harvest festival," Lim explained. |
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