Hakka Glutinous Rice Dumplings

HAKKA GLUTINOUS RICE DUMPLINGS

The 5th moon festival falls on the 5th day and 5th month (double 5)of the lunar calendar and its also called the Dragon Boat Festival and is a national holiday in China. People in China eats zongzhi , drink realgar ( xionghuang 雄黃) wine and race dragon boats. The dragon boat is celebrated to commemorate the attempt to rescue Qu Yuan, a famous chinese poet and scholar in the 278 BC who committed suicide by drowning himself.The zongzhi were initially made and thrown into the river to prevent the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body.

The shape for this recipe of zhongzhi is pillow-shaped. Both end of the bamboo leaves have to be trimmed and allow 3 leaves per dumpling and dried grass reeds (comes together with your bunch of dried bamboo leaves) for strings for tying.

Ingredients:

2 kg glutinous rice

2 bunches of dried bamboo leaves

1 kg belly pork + 1 kg shoulder pork without skin or 2 kg boneless chicken whole leg without skin

2 tspn 5-spice powder for meat + 2 tspn extra for rice

20 dried black mushrooms, soaked overnight in fridge

300 g dried black-eyed peas or fresh Berlotti beans and/or dried peanuts, soaked overnight

45 pcs dried oysters, soaked overnight in fridge

200 g dried chestnuts (buah berangan), soaked overnight in fridge

20 salted duck egg yolks, steamed and halved

salt and sugar  to taste

dark soy sauce for colour

6 shallots, chopped

2 whole pods garlic, chopped

cooking oil

1. Soak rice in a basin of water overnight. Drain. Stir in 2 teaspoons of 5-spice powder and 4 teaspoons of salt or to taste

2.  Squeeze out water from soaked mushrooms. Slice mushrooms.

3.  Marinate pork pieces and sliced mushrooms with 2 tablespoons of thick, dark soy sauce and 2 teaspoons of 5-spice powder and 2 tablespoons light soy sauce.

4. Heat up 1/2 cup of cooking oil in a large wok and fry the drained rice and toss with a ladle until oil seeps into rice grain and becomes translucent. Stir in about 2 tablespoons of dark, thick soy sauce for colour.  Dish out onto a basin.

5.  In the  same wok, heat up 4 tablespoons of cooking oil and brown the chopped shallots and garlic.

6.  Add in the marinated pork and mushrooms and toss until pork is cooked. 

7.  Add in the drained oysters, chestnuts and peanuts.  Stir to coat with the dark soy sauce and gravy.

To assemble:
1. Take a leaf and add 2 tablespoons of rice onto it and spreading it out, holding it on your left palm.
2.  Add 1 piece of belly and shoulder pork each, a few slices of mushrooms, some peanuts/beans,1 piece of oyster, half an egg yolk, 1 piece of chestnut and a spoonful of gravy. Top with 1 tablespoon of rice.
3.  Fold over both end, overlapping each other to cover.
4. Holding one end of the exposed side upright with your left hand, take another leaf to close up the other side and folding over by bringing it over to the back and front on both ends of the leaf.
5. Do the same for the other exposed side with another leaf.
6.  Tie securely with a reed as string.
7.., Repeat until finished.
8. Meanwhile, get ready a deep stock pot. Arrange the zhongzhi in the pot neatly, leaving about 3" to 4" of space  from the top.
9.  Fill it up with water to cover. Add 4 tablespoons of salt into the water.
9. Bring to boil and simmer for about 4 to 5 hours or alternatively, use a pressure cooker to cook in 1 hour.