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Zong Zi, Vegetarian Nyonya Bak Chang.

I am trying to eat less meat and here is my’ invention’. No meat, no mushroom as I do not want to change the nyonya taste and flavour.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time4 hours 30 minutes
Soaking time10 hours
Total Time15 hours
Course: celebration, Dinner, lunch
Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Malaysian, Nyonya, South-east Asian
Keyword: bamboo leaves, chinese food, Dragon Boat Festival, Dumplings, gluten free, glutinous rice, peanuts, vegan dumplings
Servings: 30 pieces or so

Ingredients

Rice

  • 1 kg Glutinous rice
  • ½ cup Blue pea flowers dried or fresh, soak in 1 cup water, and macerate to extract juice. Use less if you prefer a lighter colour.
  • 500 ml Thick coconut milk or from can.
  • 2 tsp Salt

Spice paste

  • 2 tbsp White pepper Corns
  • 50 g Coriander powder
  • 100 g Garlic peeled
  • 25 g Dried cukur or lesser galangal, or (40g fresh)
  • 150 g Red onions or shallots

Filling

  • 70 g Dried tofu pieces
  • 30 g Dried bean curd sheet
  • 2 tsp Salt or to taste
  • 4 tbsp Sugar or to taste
  • 2 tsp Vegan seasoning
  • 250 g Candied winter melon chopped
  • 200 g Dry roasted peanuts coarsely chopped or pounded
  • 4 tbsp Cooking oil

For wrapping

  • 2-3 Pandan leaves cut into 5 cm lengths
  • 60-70 pc Dried bamboo leaves soak until soft, and wiped dry
  • 3-4 bundles Hemp strings or ordinary strings for tying the dumplings

Instructions

Preparation starts the night before.

    Prepare the rice

    • Rinse the glutinous rice until the water runs clear.
    • Divide into 2 parts.
    • 1/3 part (300g) is for the blue rice, 2/3 (700g) is for the white rice
    • Cover the 700g rice with water and leave overnight.
    • Soak the blue pea flowers in 1 cup of warm water for a long as you can. Macerate and extract the juice.
    • Soak the 300g of rice in the blue solution. Add more water to the flowers to extract more colour, enough to cover the rice with 2cm of water above it.
    • Leave to soak overnight.

    Prepare the filling

    • Roast the peanuts in the oven 180C for 5 to 8 minutes turning twice. Oe, you can dry fry with a pan. Set aside.
    • Soak the dried tofu pieces and the bean curd skin in warm water.
    • Peel the garlic and onions
    • Soak the cukur in warm water.
    • Cut the pandan leaves into pieces.
    • Prepare the wrap/ bamboo leaves
    • In a container large enough to hold the bamboo leaves, soak the leaves in tepid water. Weigh the leaves down with heavy objects like a mortar and pestle or cans of beans, or other suitable weights.
    • Prepare the strings for wrapping by cutting the strings to about 1 metre lengths.
    • Gather 5 strings together and make a loop in the centre for easy handling. This will be the strings that you would tie the dumplings and each bunch will have 10 dumplings.
    • Make 3 to 4 bunches, as there will be 30+ dumplings
    • Gather all the ingredients for the next day.

    Prep and cook day

      Rice

      • Drain the 2 types of rice.

      White rice:

      • Add 350 ml of the thick coconut milk to the white rice, 1 ½ tsp salt and set aside.

      Blue rice:

      • Do the same as the white rice using the remainder of the 150 ml coconut milk and ½ tsp salt.

      Prepare the filling

      • Drain the fillings ingredients, and squeeze as much water as possible from the tofu pieces.
      • Shred the tofu sheets
      • Roughly chop the tofu pieces.
      • Put all the spice paste ingredients in a blender of chopper and chop or blend until fine. Add some water if necessary.
      • Heat 4 tbsp of cooking oil in a pan or wok. Add in the spice paste and sauté until fragrant.
      • Add in the tofu pieces and shredded sheets. Stir to combine.
      • Add the sugar, salt and seasoning. Stir.
      • Add in about ½ cup of water and stir to combine, Fry until it is a bit dry about 10- 15 minutes
      • Then stir in the candied winter melon and mix.
      • Dish out and leave to cool and then mix in the peanuts. Set aside

      To wrap the dumplings

      • Take 2 pieces of bamboo leaves and place one on top of the other.
      • Fold to make a cone.
      • Spoon 1 tbsp (heap) of the white rice into the cone.
      • Add 1 tsp of the blue rice. Make an indentation in the centre.
      • Add in 1 tbsp of the filling.
      • Cover with 1 tbsp of the white rice and 1 tsp of the blue.
      • Pack the rice tight with your hand.
      • Place 1 piece of the pandan leaf on top of the rice
      • Fold over the leaves to cover the rice and fold and shape into a pyramid shape.
      • Tie with the string.
      • Repeat until you have 10 dumplings in a bunch.
      • Continue to wrap more dumplings.
      • You might have some fillings left over.

      Boil the dumplings

      • In a pot big enough to hold the dumplings, bring 5 to 7 litres or so of water to the boil
      • Add in a tbsp of salt.
      • Carefully add the dumplings into the pot. Make sure all the dumplings are covered with water. Boil for a total of 305 to 4 hours.
      • After sa,y about and hour has passed, rotate the dumplings. Top up with fresh boiling water if necessary.
      • Repeat one more time after an hour.
      • At the end of the cooking time, remove all the dumplings and hang it to drip dry.
      • The dumplings are now go to enjoy.
      • Best served with a salad for a healthier alternative.

      Video

      Notes

      Best served with a salad for a healthier alternative.
      The dumplings can keep for days, about 2 weeks in the fridge.
      It can be frozen.
      Defrost in microwave before serving.