Teochew Sticky Rice Dumplings (Zong Zi) 潮州粽子

Day 1: (Preparing the ingredients)

First boil the bamboo leaves for about 5 minutes, making sure they are fully submerged until the leaves turn soft. Then leave to cool down on its own.

Rinse the leaves thoroughly with water. Use a clean cloth to wipe the leaves, piece by piece.

Then leave to soak in water overnight. If you are using the leaves the next morning, then only wash and soak the leaves the night before.

Be sure to soak together with the grass strands.

Prepare all the ingredients needed to marinade the cut pork belly.

Marinade the pork belly and keep it covered in the refrigerator overnight. This will make the meat taste more flavourful.

Wash shitake mushrooms to remove dirt and soaked them overnight.

Wash chestnuts, soak for 30 minutes. Then briefly boil the chestnuts.

Then using a toothpick or any sharp object, remove the membrane and dirt from the chestnut. Wash again and keep refrigerated until needed.

Finely chop garlic ( keep in refrigerator) and fry the sliced shallots. Retain the shallot oil to fry the pork and glutinous rice.

Have ready some homemade red bean paste, wrapped into balls. It's our family's favourite and a MUST have in our teochew rice dumplings.

Day 2: (Cooking the ingredients)

Drain well the mushroom after soaking and seasoning with sesame oil and sugar.

Wash, soak and drain the dried shrimp.

Wash glutinous rice several times until the water runs clear. Leave to soak in water for about 1 hour.

Cut salted egg yolks in halves..

Soak chinese sausage for 15 minutes.

Using a pair of scissors, cut to remove the membrane surrounding the sausages.

Then cut the chinese sausages into thick pieces.

Drain the soaked glutinous rice and season with salt, pepper, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, chinese five spice powder and msg.

Using a big wok, first stir fry the dried shrimp with the shallot oil and set aside.

Then stir fry the mushrooms and set aside.

Next stir fry the chestnuts and set aside.

Briefly stir fry also the cut chinese sausage.

Then in the same wok, heat up some more shallot oil and saute chopped garlic till fragrant.

Stir fry the marinated pork belly and add in some chinese cooking wine, to taste.

Transfer to a large plate or tray and sprinkle half of the fried shallot over it.

Lastly using low heat, briefly stir fry the seasoned glutinous rice with some shallot oil.

Transfer the rice to a large tray, sprinkle the other half of the fried shallot and mix well. And we're ready to wrap!

(Wrapping the dumplings)

Gather all the ingredients needed before you start to wrap the rice dumplings.

Select 2 bamboo leaves. Overlap them by 80% of the area. Starting at 1/3 lengthwise from one end, bend the leaves to form a cone making sure the smooth side of leaves is on inside of cone.

Create a well in the cone by filling with 1 tbsp of sticky rice.

Then add a layer consisting of one piece each of shitake mushroom, redbean paste, chestnut, pork belly, salted egg yolk and some dried shrimp.

Lastly, cover with another 2 tbsp of glutinous rice. Press it down gently before wrapping up. Each dumpling is about 200g.

To close the opening, fold over the remaining 2/3 of the leaves.

Cover the top completely and press down to partially cover the sides.

Wrap the edge of the leaves to either left or right side of the rice dumpling. And you're done wrapping it!

Use a grass strand to tie the rice dumpling. Wrap the dumpling with the grass strand twice, each time with an easy knot to ensure no loose ends. And we're ready to cook them!

(Cooking the dumplings)

In a large pot of water, add in salt and bring the water to a boil under high heat.

Then slowly place the dumplings into the water, making sure they are fully submerged. Cover the pot with lid and cook slowly over medium heat for about 3 hours, depending on size.

To check if they are cooked through, unwrap one of the dumplings in the pot, check for doneness and taste it.

Once the rice dumplings are cooked through, remove from the pot immediately, hang it up and leave it to air dry for at least 1 hour. And we're done!

Enjoy the rice dumpling while it's still hot, preferably with hot chinese tea. Enjoy and Happy Rice Dumpling Festival!