PETALING JAYA: While this year’s Dragon Boat Festival might be different due to the ongoing national lockdown, there is still another tradition that will be cheerfully observed indoors- delicious rice dumplings.
Rice dumplings have been synonymous with the Dragon Boat Festival for some 2,000 years, originating during the Warring States period of ancient China.
According to legend, Que Yuan, a patriotic poet, drowned himself in a lake after seeing his state of Chu fall to a Qin invasion, just as he had foreseen.
To prevent the fish from eating his body, villagers rowed out in boats and threw rice dumplings into the water in a bid to distract the fish. And from then on, the dragon boat races and rice dumplings have become part of the festival’s tradition.
While some people call them zongzi and others bak chang, glutinous rice dumplings come in many types and variants. But how would you tell them apart?
Here is a list of a few types of rice dumplings and their distinctive features.
Cantonese
You can tell the Cantonese dumpling apart simply by the abundance of salted egg yolk within.
The strong taste of the egg yolk goes surprisingly well with the sweetness of Chinese lap cheong sausage, as well as the texture of beans and peanuts.
Another version of this savoury Cantonese rice dumpling forgoes the sausage in favour of mushrooms, mung beans and pork instead.
While it normally comes wrapped in its typical pyramid shape, it is sometimes wrapped in a longish manner instead.
Hokkien
A particularly popular type of rice dumpling in Malaysia, you can probably smell it before you even see it due to its strong aroma, brought about by its well-seasoned nature.
Most Hokkien rice dumplings use five-spice powder as an ingredient, with the powder consisting of star anise, fennel seeds, peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon sticks.
It has a dark brown hue, courtesy of soy sauce used during the cooking process, and inside, you will find dried mushrooms, pork belly, chestnuts and dried shrimps.
Teochew
In addition to being savoury, the Teochew rice dumpling also has sweetness included among its flavours.
This sweetness comes from the inclusion of red bean paste which is stuffed together with savoury fillings of shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp and pork belly.
The red bean paste is typically balled up before being wrapped with a layer of caul fat, which results in a calorie-rich but delicious treat.
Nyonya
These dumplings lack the usual brownish colour of its siblings. Instead it has a white and blue appearance.
This pretty bluish shade is born from the use of blue pea flower, the same flower used to colour nasi kerabu.
For their rice dumpling, the Peranakan would include minced pork and candied winter melon strips as well as a pinch of coriander powder.
The Nyonya rice dumpling has a pleasant pandan fragrance to it with more sweet hints than savoury.
Kee Chang
Kee Chang does not actually belong to any one of the major dialect groups in Malaysia, and thus, it is not fair to attribute it to any one group.
However, it is still an enjoyable treat, and not to mention, it’s a welcome treat for vegetarians as this sweet rice dumpling has no meat fillings.
It has a bright yellow colour and a flavour that is often enhanced by dipping pieces of the rice dumpling into sugar or gula melaka.
Hainanese
Size is certainly the biggest differentiator when it comes to the Hainanese version.
The ingredients used in making Hainanese rice dumplings are not particularly unique, but what definitely makes them distinct is their large portions, in comparison to other types of rice dumplings.
Interestingly, Hainanese rice dumplings are often eaten with palm sugar syrup for a sweet gastronomical experience.
Hakka
Hakka rice dumplings are similar to their Cantonese counterparts, with a minor difference – the use of black-eyed peas in place of green mung beans.
Hakka rice dumplings are also somewhat paler compared to the Cantonese version.
Other than that, the Hakka rice dumpling is the usual savoury delight comprising pork, salted egg yolk and mushrooms in a tasty pyramid package.
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June 14, 2021 at 06:00AM
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