We Tried Chen Xiuhuan’s Abalone Rice Dumpling — Is It Worth Making It Yourself?

The Hokkien dumpling is typically darker in colour because the glutinous rice is stir-fried in dark soy sauce and five-spice powder. Stuffed inside: marinated pork, dried shrimp, mushrooms and chestnuts, for a hint of sweetness and bite.

“Every year, I look forward to eating my mum’s bak chang which are chock-full of fillings. The store-bought ones just cannot compare — they lack the ‘taste of mum’ and the taste of home. I feel very touched when I eat it, I never used to feel this way in the past,” she says. So touched that she has made it her mission to learn all her family’s heirloom recipes so she can pass them down to future generations. “My mum is also getting on in age and she wants me to take over her bak chang duties next year. She’s happy she has found her successor,” shares the mother-of-three.

But making bak chang is backbreaking work. The ingredients have to be prepared a day before and then there’s the most challenging part: wrapping the dumpling. “Even if you’re a good cook, you might not be able to make bak chang well ’cos there are too many steps and the process is too complicated. If you don’t wrap the dumpling tightly, it might unravel when cooking,” she says. Fortunately for Xiuhuan, she managed to master the technique on her first try. “Even my mum approves of my work. All the years spent helping out in the kitchen are not in vain,” she quips.

Xiuhuan is so confident of her dumpling-making skills that she decided to luxe up her mum’s bak chang with abalone and the result was “surprisingly good”. “I was inspired by an abalone-stuffed pau that I tried recently, so I made abalone bak chang on a whim and it tasted so good. I thought the abalone would be tough and chewy, but it was so tender. It complemented the rest of the ingredients. My mum and daughters love it, and [Hong] Huifang too,” says Xiuhuan, clearly proud of her creation.

In order not to overwhelm the taste of the abalone, Xiuhuan excluded the usual chestnut from the recipe. She also reduced the amount of black sauce and dark sweet sauce so the colour of the rice is lighter. “You won’t be able to see the abalone if the bak chang is too dark,” she explains.

She recommends using whole medium-sized abalones, which fit perfectly in the parcel. Also, unlike most abalone bak chang sold by restaurants which bury the shellfish inside the dumpling with the meat filling, she adds the delicacy last — plopped onto the surface of the rice — “so it is the first thing you see when you unwrap the dumpling”.

Both her classic and abalone rice dumplings have been such a hit that she’s received requests from friends and netizens to buy them. While she‘s shared her mum’s bak chang recipe online (she will also be doing a live bak chang-making session on Instagram at 4pm on Jun 20), Xiuhuan says she has no intention of selling it: “My mum and I just want to enjoy the process of making it together.”

View this post on Instagram

深夜和朋友聊天，感嘆大家都快沒工作，也不能出去玩，什麼都做不了，感到好無奈。又不時看新聞報導還是有人群聚集在外面，真是為他們擔憂。想想我們音樂人朋友之間到底能做些什麼？幾通簡訊後，在一個小時內大家都義不容辭立馬答應，我們的#stayathome movement 就這樣一夜間誕生了。大家都各自在家裡自拍影片，有默契，認真又搞笑，各種花招都拿出來，又在同一天完成剪接這個影片！The message is clear.. no? 感謝 @stefsunyanzi @jjlin 和陳潔儀！難得咱們可以隔空有這樣深具意義的合作。很是感動。凝聚一份力量希望能起一些微薄的效用。Let’s do this together! #stayathome #please #乖 #seriously #doitforyourselfandforothers #flattenthecurve #在家無聊會做的事 #friendscometogether #JKST #weareapartbutcloseatheart #第一次當剪接師老花眼變更嚴重

A post shared by Tanya- Chua (@chua.tanya) on Apr 6, 2020 at 5:00am PDT

Makes about 24 rice dumplings​​​​​​​

Ingredients:

For the dried shrimp:

1/2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp chopped garlic

500g dried shrimp

1/2 tbsp five-spice powder

a few dashes of pepper

For the shiitake mushrooms:

1/2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp chopped garlic

200g shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp five-spice powder

a few dashes of pepper

1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

For the glutinous rice:

1/2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1.5kg glutinous rice

a few dashes of pepper

1 tsp five-spice powder

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp dark sweet sauce (she used KCT's Chicken Rice Dark Soya Sauce)

For the pork belly:

1.5kg pork belly, roughly minced

2 tbsp dark soya sauce

2 tbsp dark sweet sauce

1 tbsp light soya sauce

1/2 tbsp salt

1/2 tbsp chicken stock powder

a few dashes of pepper

1 tsp five-spice powder

1 tbsp chopped garlic

3 cans medium-sized abalone (24 pieces)

48 bamboo leaves (a mix of large and small), soaked overnight

Kitchen twine

Water for boiling

2 pandan leaves, knotted

Prepare the filling:

1. Add 1/2 tablespoon oil to a wok and place over medium heat. When oil is hot, add garlic and fry till slightly brown.

2. Add dried shrimp, stir-fry briefly before adding pepper and five-spice powder. Fry till fragrant, around 2 minutes. Dish out and set aside.

3. Wipe wok. Add 1/2 tablespoon oil and place over medium heat. Add garlic and fry till slightly brown.

4. Add shiitake mushrooms, stir-fry briefly before adding salt, five-spice powder, pepper and light soy sauce. Fry until mushrooms are soft and fragrant. Dish out and set aside.

5. Wipe wok. Add 1/2 tablespoon oil over medium heat, then add garlic.

6. When garlic is light brown in colour, add glutinous rice and switch heat to low.

7. Add pepper, five-spice powder, dark soy sauce, and dark sweet sauce. Mix thoroughly until sauce coats all of the rice. Dish out and set aside.

8. In a bowl, marinate pork belly, dark soy sauce, dark sweet sauce, light soy sauce, salt, chicken stock powder, pepper, five-spice powder and garlic.

9. Let all the ingredients cool before wrapping.

1. Soak the bamboo leaves overnight, and wash well. Keep them moist and wipe dry just before you begin wrapping.

2. Using two bamboo leaves, place them smooth side up with the smaller one on the inside. Overlap them slightly. Fold the leaves into a cone.

3. Add 1 tablespoon of rice in the bottom of the cone. Then add 1/2 tablespoon each of dried shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, pork belly. Cover the filling with a bit of glutinous rice, before adding the abalone on top. Pack everything tightly with a spoon.

If making a classic Hokkien bak chang, omit abalone and add the chestnut first before topping with the rest of the ingredients and covering with rice. Soak the chestnuts overnight so it is easier to skin them.

4. With your thumb and index finger, press the edges of the cone before folding down the leaf to close it. Press it firmly to seal tightly.

5. Pinch both sides of the leaf inwards, then fold the remaining leaf to one side of the pyramid.

6. Use string and make a loop over the middle of the pyramid to secure it snugly.

1. Add water and pandan leaves to a big pot and bring to a boil. The amount of water should be enough to submerge the dumplings.

2. When water comes to a full boil, add bak chang and cook for 2.5 hours or 3 hours if you prefer the rice softer. If your dumpling bundles are stacked one on top of the other, swap them halfway through the cooking process.

3. Remove the dumplings, hang them to dry and cool.

Tip: The bak chang can be kept for up to six months if stored tightly wrapped in the freezer. Steam for 20 minutes when you want to eat it. Let the dumpling cool briefly before unwrapping it so the glutinous rice doesn’t stick to the leaves.

Photos: Chen Xiuhuan