Bamboo Leaf Vegetarian Dumpling 素粽子

Bamboo Leaf Vegetarian Dumpling 素粽子

Recipe source :  Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours


We had just celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival few weeks back. As usual,  I made Bak Chang or savoury bamboo leaf dumplings with meat and an assortment of ingredients.  Sometimes I make alkaline dumplings with red bean paste  fillings. My family likes the spicy dumplings with dried shrimps sambal. I still have some bamboo leaves left over and I thought of trying to make some vegetarian dumplings which I have never attempted before. 

The ingredients used and the method of making these vegetarian dumplings is the same as making my previous batches of savoury dumplings except that I omitted using meat and salted egg yolks. I used gingko nuts instead. I love to eat gingko nuts and the yellowish color of the gingko nuts make the dumplings look more colourful.
 

Ingredients for Glutinous Rice

500g glutinous rice
2 tsp salt
1 Chinese soup spoon cooking oil
1/2 tsp five-spice powder
1/2 tsp salt

1.  Wash glutinous rice and soaked in water overnight. 
2.  Next morning, drain away the water using a colander
3.  Then mix in the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.

Mushroom

100g, dried shitake mushrooms
3 tsp sugar
1/4 Chinese soup spoon soy sauce
1 Chinese soup spoon shao shing wine (optional )
1 1/2 Chinese soup spoon cooking oil

1.  Soak mushrooms in water until soft. 
2.  Slice the mushrooms and mix in all the ingredients to marinate for 5 hours or preferably overnight in the refrigerator.
3.  Pan-fry the marinated mushrooms over high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. 
4.  Remove and leave to cool. Set aside.

Chestnuts

75g dried chestnuts

1.  Soak chestnuts overnight. 
2.  Then boil chestnuts in water with 1/4 tsp lye water until soft. Take one between your fore finger and thumb and squeeze. If it breaks then it is ready.
3.  Remove the brownish membranes from the ridges of the chestnuts with a toothpick.

Black-eyed beans

75g black-eyed beans

1.  Soak in water overnight.
2.  Then boil in water with 1 tsp salt until soft.

Split mung beans

100g split mung beans

1.  Soak in water overnight.
2.  Drain away the water.  Boil the mung beans with 1 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tsp sugar till soft.
3.  Drain dry. Set aside.

 Fresh gingko nuts

2 pre-packed packets, about 200g

1.  Cut into halves and remove the embryo as it is very bitter.
2.  Wash and drain. Then add in 1 tsp sugar.

Wrapping the dumpling

Please refer to my previous post Savoury Bamboo Leaf Dumpling for a step-by-step guide on wrapping the bamboo leaf dumplings. 

Makes 11 dumplings

Boiling the dumplings

1.  Bring 5 litres of water to a boil. Add in 3 tbsp salt to the boiling water.
2.  Put all the wrapped dumplings into the boiling water.
3.  Boil for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
4.  Drain away the water.

 

Mango & Sticky Rice With Coconut Sauce (Koa-Niew Moon Mamuang)

Mango & Sticky Rice With Coconut Sauce (Koa-Niew Moon Mamuang)

Recipe source :  Appon's Thai Food

Mango and sticky rice with coconut sauce is another one of my favourite Thai desserts. I usually order this mango rice or the red ruby dessert after a meal at Thai restaurants.

Mango rice is very filling, so we normally order only one portion and share it among ourselves. The saltiness from the coconut sauce balances beautifully with the sweet sticky rice. The mangoes were of course excellent!

This is a classic Thai recipe.

Ingredients

100g glutinous rice
2 ripe mangoes
200ml water
100ml coconut milk
100g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp rice flour

 Fresh mangoes

Instructions

 
1. Soak the glutinous rice in some water (enough water to cover it) for 3-4 hours. This will make the sticky rice easier to cook.
2. Steam the rice for 15 minutes to cook it thoroughly.
3. Put the water and sugar into a pot and bring to the boil. The sugar should dissolve completely.
4. Add the cooked sticky rice into the pot and stir well to mix.
5. In a different sauce pan, put the coconut milk, the rice flour, and salt and cook it on a low heat for 5 minutes or until the coconut milk thickens.
6. Peel the mango and slice the flesh into slices.
7. To serve, put a bed of the sticky rice on a plate, followed by a layer of mango slices, and pour some of the coconut sauce over the top.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest  (Thailand) - November Month

hosted by Lena of Frozen Wings

Pandan And Fruit Sushi 香兰水果寿司

Pandan And Fruit Sushi 香兰水果寿司

Sweet fruity sushi for my family.  

Recipe source :  Doris Choo


I used pandan leaves and pandan juice to steam the sweet glutinous rice. When the rice has cooled down, I cut them into rectangles to make the sushi base. Then top up with strawberries and kiwi fruits to make fruit sushi. Mangoes will be nice too. Guess I need to try topping up with mangoes next time. 

Ingredients

150g glutinous rice
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
80ml santan,  (coconut milk)
250ml water
3 pandan leaves, cut into pieces
2 pandan leaves, knotted together
3 strawberries, sliced
2 kiwi fruits, sliced

Instructions

1.  Blend together 250ml water with 3 pandan leaves. Strain for the juice. Discard the pandan leaves.
2.  Wash glutinous rice and place them in a square or rectangular container.
3.  Add in the strained pandan juice, salt and santan to the glutinous rice. Add in the knotted pandan leaves and steam over high heat for 30 minutes. Leave to cool.  Once cooled down, cut into rectangles.
4.  Place kiwi fruit slices and strawberry slices on top of the glutinous rice.

I am linking this post to Joceline Lyn of Butter. Flour & Me

This event is linked to Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids

and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

The ingredient for September is "pandan"

Savoury Bamboo Leaf Dumpling 咸肉粽

Savoury Bamboo Leaf Dumpling 咸肉粽

After making bamboo leaf alkaline dumpling with red bean paste  and bamboo leaf dumpling with dried shrimps sambal,  I had originally  planned to make this savoury dumpling much earlier to share in my blog. However, due to unforeseen circumstances and work commitment, I am only able to make these dumplings today for the coming Dragon Boat Festival which falls on the12th of June 2013.  I hope it is not too late to share my savoury dumplings now. These savoury dumplings are popularly known among the Hokkien community as the "Bak Chang" or "Hum Yook Chung" in Cantonese. 


Happy Dragon Boat Festival to all of you !

 

Glutinous Rice

1 kg glutinous rice, wash, soak overnight and drain

Then add : 
4 tsp salt
2 Chinese soup spoon oil
1 tsp 5-spice powder
1 tsp sugar

Mix the above ingredients with the glutinous rice. Mix thoroughly.

Mushrooms

200g mushrooms. soak until soft and remove the stems

Then marinate the mushrooms with the following ingredients, overnight in the refrigerator :

6 tsp ( heaped ) sugar
2 1/2 big Chinese soup spoon soy sauce
2 big Chinese soup spoon shao shing wine
3 big Chinese soup spoon cooking oil

Pork Belly

1 kg pork belly, cut into slices

Then marinate the pork belly slices with the following ingredients overnight in the refrigerator :-

 2 1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp pepper
1 1/4 tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp oyster sauce
3 tsp dark soy sauce

Instructions

1.  Heat oil in wok until very hot. Fry the marinated mushrooms and pork belly together for 5 - 6 minutes.
2.  Dish up and set aside to cool. ( No need to fry until the pork slices are cooked ).

Other Ingredients

5 salted duck egg yolks, cut into halves
150g dried scallops, wash and rinse
150g black-eyed beans ( mei-tau in Cantonese ) - soak overnight, then boil with 1 tsp salt until soft
150g split mung beans ( look-tau peen in Cantonese ) - soak overnight, then boil with 1 tsp salt until soft
2 bundles of bamboo leaves, boil in water and wipe clean with towel
straws or strings for tying

 The stir-fried mushrooms and pork belly

 Black-eyed beans

 Split mung beans

 Glutinous rice mixed with the spices and seasonings

  Dried scallops

 Salted duck egg yolks

 

 All ready for wrapping

Wrapping the bamboo leaf dumpling step-by-step

 Scoop 1 1/2 tbsp of glutinous rice onto 3 pieces of bamboo leaves

  Add on the mung beans and black-eyed beans

 Then add on 5 pieces of dried scallops

 Top up with half a piece of salted duck egg yolk

 Add 2 pieces of pork belly and 2 pieces of mushrooms

 Scoop 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp glutinous rice on top

 Place a piece of bamboo leaf over the ingredients to be wrapped

 Fold the bamboo leaf over one side

 Fold the other side to form a packet or a parcel

 Turn the edges to the bottom of the parcel

The wrapped-up parcel. Makes 20 to 22 dumplings

Secure the parcel with strings.

You may refer to my previous posts on step-by-step guide on wrapping bamboo leaf dumpling

Boiling the Dumplings

1.  In a very large pot, bring 10 litres of water to the boil
2.  Add 3 tbsp of salt to the boiling water.

3.  Make sure the water is boiling before adding in the dumplings and make sure all the dumplings are submerged in the boiling water. 

4.  Boil for 2 1/2 hours. 

5.  If the water level is reduced below the dumplings, add more boiling water to the pot.   

N.B. Unless otherwise stated, a tsp or tbsp or big Chinese soup spoon means a flat spoonful.

Bamboo Leaf Dumpling With Dried Shrimps Sambal 辣椒虾米粽子

Bamboo Leaf Dumpling With Dried Shrimps Sambal 辣椒虾米粽子

These dumpling are hot and spicy. 

Not the conventional Chinese bamboo leaf dumplings. 

But in Malaysia, we have the flair to blend the different types of food to our best advantage!

Ingredients

500g glutinous rice, soaked overnight and drained
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 portion dried shrimp sambal 

130g dried bamboo leaves, soaked overnight to soften the leaves before cleaning them.
Strings to tie the dumplings

Mix the glutinous rice, oil and salt thoroughly

Dried shrimp sambal
Please refer to this link on how to prepare the dried shrimp sambal

Instructions

1.  The method of wrapping the "pillow" or the "nasi-lemak" packets is the same as  wrapping the alkaline dumplings with red bean paste.

 2.  Please refer to my previous post which showed the step-by-step instructions on how to wrap bamboo leaf dumplings

Bamboo Leaf Alkaline Dumpling With Red Bean Paste 豆沙碱水粽子

Bamboo Leaf Alkaline Dumpling With Red Bean Paste 豆沙碱水粽子

The dumpling festival is just round the corner and falls on June 12th this year. So instead of making the traditional dumplings with only alkaline water we decided to add red bean paste to it. My late mother-in-law used to make alkaline dumplings and dipped them into sugar. I didn't like it and here is the new improved version. I am planning to make two more varieties. The traditional 'bak chang' (or pork dumpling) and the home-grown Malaysian 'sambal belacan chang'

 

 Yum-yum!

The alkaline glutinous rice filled with red bean paste

Ingredients

500g glutinous rice, soak overnight and drain
35ml lye water or kan sooi in Cantonese
35ml oil
1/2 tsp salt
600g red bean paste  ( You can refer to my previous post on how to make red bean paste )
130g dried bamboo leaves, soaked overnight to soften the leaves before cleaning them.
Strings to tie the dumplings 

 Glutinous rice which has been soaked overnight, well drained and mixed with lye water, oil and salt. Ready for wrapping

Red bean paste

Refer to the above link to read up my previous post on how to make red bean paste

  Strings to tie up the dumplings

 

Step-by-step instructions on how to wrap the bamboo leaf dumpling

Some called this "Hong Kong" style wrapping, while others called this "nasi lemak" style. 

My family call this method of wrapping the dumplings the "pillow" style! 

Wipe clean 2 pieces of bamboo leaves and place them parallel to each other. 

Let the two pieces of leaves over-lap slightly as seen in the picture.

Cut off the stems and the ends of the bamboo leaves. 

 Place one tbsp of glutinous rice on the bamboo leaves

 Add in about 50g of red bean paste

 Top up with another tbsp of glutinous rice

 Cover the glutinous rice with another piece of bamboo leaf

Using both hands, press down on the top piece of  bamboo leaf to cover the glutinous rice before wrapping it up

 Fold in one side of the bamboo leaves to wrap it up  like a parcel or like wrapping up a packet of "nasi lemak"

Fold in the other side of the bamboo leaves to complete the wrapping

 Using both hands, hold the parcel and turn one end of the edges to place it under the parcel

Bring the other end of the edges and place it under the parcel to form a neat packet

 Secure the parcel by tying it up with a string

 Circle the string around the parcel and tie a knot at the top

 Using the top as the pivot point, circle the string another round on the other side of the parcel like a "V"-shape

 Tie a knot to secure it

 It looks like a "pillow"

Snip off the odd ends of the bamboo leaves

Boiling the dumplings

1.  Bring a large pot of water to the boil.
2.  Place all the wrapped dumplings into the boiling water. Ensure that all the dumplings are submerged in the boiling water.
3.  Boil over high heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If the water level is below the dumplings, add boiling water to top up. Do not add cold water.
4.  Unwrap one dumpling to check that is is truly cook before switching off the flame.
5.  Remove the dumplings and drain well.
6.  Allow to cool.
7.  The dumplings taste better when they are cooled down.