Bak Chang 粽子

Bak Chang means Zong zi (粽子) in Chinese. Bak in Hokkien means meat and Chang I believe means rice dumpling.

Zong zi or ba chang is a kind of traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice and stuffed with different filling such as: pork, shiitake mushroom , wood ear, dried shrimps, preserved duck egg yolk, beans and etc then wrapped in bamboo leaves.

According to Wikipedia:

"Zongzi is traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) which falls on the fifth day of the fifth moon of the Chinese calendar (approximately early- to mid-June), commemorating the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet from the kingdom of Chu who lived during the Warring States period. Known for his patriotism, Qu Yuan tried unsuccessfully to warn his king and countrymen against the expansionism of their Qin neighbors. When the Qin Dynasty general Bai Qi took Yingdu, the Chu capital, in 278 BC, Qu Yuan's grief was so intense that he drowned himself in the Miluo river after penning the Lament for Ying. According to legend, rice dumplings were thrown into the river to prevent fish from eating the poet's body. Another version states that the dumplings were given to placate a dragon that lived in the river."

Here is how I made my bak chang (I used what I had in my pantry)

1) Soak the bambo leaves for a few hours. Or put in the boiling water for 1/2 hr until they are soft.

2) Soak over night glutinous rice or a few hours. By doing this will shorten the cooking time.

3) I only use pork, shiitake mushroom and wood ear as my filling.

4) Par-cooked the pork. I saute my pork with chopped garlic, white pepper, salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce and black soy sauce.

5) Saute the shiitake mushrooms and wood ear with chopped garlic, black soy sauce, salt and soy sauce.

6) Wash and drain the rice. Saute the rice with chopped garlic, chinese five spice powder, soy sauce, black soy sauce and salt.

7) You need some kind of skill to wrap the bak chang. I am so lazy to type out the steps, found this how to wrap bak chang from You Tube: (I wrapped my bak chang slightly different than the lady in the video. It doesn't which method, the end result will be the same..taste good)

8) After you done wrapping the bak chang, put the back chang in a deep pot and then fill the pot with water. Make sure the water is covering the bak chang.

9) Lucky me, work in commercial type of kitchen, I use the steamer instead, only took me about 1 hr to steam the bak chang. But if you are like anyone else, make this at home, boil the bak chang for arrpox 3 hrs. If you soak the rice overnight, it only take approx. 2 hrs.

So, are you up to the challenge?