Hokkien Bak Chang (Sticky Rice Dumplings / Zongzi) | 端午节粽子食谱
This Hokkien bak chang recipe is adapted from my grandma’s recipe. My grandma is no longer around, but my aunt — who is also my godmother — still remembers how to make them. She told me they used to make huge batches every year during Dragon Boat Festival when my grandma was still alive.
My aunt taught me the recipe a few years ago — you can watch the full vlog here. This is my adapted version, and I have been practising it since. Wrapping bak chang takes practice — I had a few dumplings fall apart in the pot the first time. I cover the wrapping technique step by step with photos below.
In this recipe, I’ll walk you through the ingredients, preparation of each filling, and how to wrap the dumplings. Getting the wrapping right is the most important step — if the leaves are not sealed tightly at every corner, the rice will fall apart in the water.
WHAT IS BAK CHANG?
Bak chang (粽子) are glutinous rice dumplings filled with savoury ingredients such as meat, mushrooms, chestnuts, and salted egg, wrapped in bamboo leaves. They are traditionally made during Dragon Boat Festival (端午节). In Cantonese dialect they are called “zong”, in Hokkien dialect “bak chang”, and in Mandarin Chinese “zongzi” (粽子).
WHAT IS DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL?
Dragon Boat Festival occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. It is believed that Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the death of poet and minister Qu Yuan who was admired by the local people. He was later accused of treason and drowned himself in the Miluo River. The local people rushed out in their boats to safe him and when he could not be saved, they dropped balls of sticky rice into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan’s body. So the Zongzi is a symbol of the drops of rice thrown into the river.
DIFFERENCE VERSIONS AND VARIATIONS OF STICKY RICE DUMPLINGS.
There are two types of sticky rice dumplings made during the Dragon Boat Festival:
ALKALINE STICKY RICE DUMPLINGS
Usually eaten with sweet condiments such as sugar, gula melaka syrup and kaya. If you are interested to make Alkaline Dumplings, I have another recipe here.
SAVOURY ZONGZI
The savoury version is filled with meat, salted eggs, mushrooms and other ingredients. There are many variations to this savoury dumpling from different ethic groups. So the taste profile and ingredients used vary.
WHAT TYPE OF LEAVES AND STRINGS TO WRAP DUMPLINGS
We use bamboo leaves. There is dried bamboo leaves or fresh bamboo leaves. For savoury dumplings, we usually use dried bamboo leaves as the size is bigger. Recommend to use leave with width 11 cm to 13 cm (see picture below). As for the string, I recommend using grass water strings (see picture below) instead of bamboo strings as they don’t break easily.
HOW TO PREPARE BAMBOO LEAVES
Soak the bamboo leaves and strings overnight. On the following day, wipe the bamboo leaves to remove any dirt. (Tip: I suggest wiping from head to tail. If you wipe the opposite direction, the cloth might get stuck) Place the bamboo leaves in a pot of hot water for 15 minutes to soften it.
Cut off the top part as it is very stiff. Stack the leaves on top of each other to prevent them from drying out. Don’t need to wipe them dry as they tend to dry out quite quickly. If they do dry out, simply soak them in water again.
IMPORTANT COOKING TIPS
Smooth side of the leaves face inwards
Smooth side of the leaves face inwards to prevent the rice from sticking to the leaves
Press the ingredients until compact in the bamboo cone
Press the rice and ingredients until compact into the bamboo cone so that it’s easier to wrap.
Observe water level. Always add boiling water during the cooking process
Don’t add cold water as it will affect the cooking time.
Use more leaves to wrap the dumplings
I recommend using more than two leaves to wrap the dumplings as it helps seal them well and prevent water from seeping in.
Make sure every corner of the triangle is properly covered
When wrapping the dumplings, it’s essential to check the corners of the triangle to ensure that the bamboo leaves overlap well. This step is crucial to prevent the rice from falling out and to ensure that water doesn’t seep into the dumplings while cooking.
Before placing the dumplings into the pot, it’s important to double-check that the strings used to secure them are tied well and tightly secured.
If you don’t tie it properly, the dumplings will fall out from the strings or the water will get into the rice.
STEPS TO WRAP DUMPLINGS
WHAT AFFECTS THE COOKING TIME?
The cooking time is based on the size of the dumplings. If the dumpling size is bigger, then the cooking time will be longer.
Secondly is the time used to soak the rice. I only soaked for 30 minutes. If you soak longer, the cooking time may be less.
The size of the pot and the stove heat. The dumplings will cook faster in a bigger pot. When the volume of water is higher, the heat will be higher.
HOW DO I KNOW THAT MY DUMPLINGS ARE COOKED?
Carefully remove it from the pot using tongs or a slotted spoon. Allow the dumpling to cool slightly to a safe temperature for tasting. Cut open the dumpling and check the texture of the rice and ingredients inside. The rice should be tender and fully cooked, and the chestnuts, mung beans and pork belly fats should be tender and heated through.
HOW DO I ENJOY THE STICKY RICE DUMPLINGS?
When ready to eat, steam the dumplings in a steamer for about 20-30 minutes until they are heated through. Enjoy warm or hot.
HOW TO STORE AND REHEAT STICKY RICE DUMPLINGS?
After cooking, let them cool down completely. Then place in air tight containers or freeze safe plastic bags and store in the fridge or freezer. They can be stored in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for 1-2 months. When ready to eat, heat them up again by steaming them until soft. If removed from fridge, steam on medium heat for 20-30 minutes. If removed from freezer, recommend to thaw first before steaming, steam on medium heat for 20-30 minutes. You can steam straight away but it will take quite long around 40 minutes depending on the size of the dumplings.
Hokkien Bak Chang (Sticky Rice Dumplings)
Ingredients
Glutinous Rice 糯米饭
- 1 kg glutinous rice 糯米 1公斤
Rice Seasoning 糯米调料
- 2 tablespoons lard (optional) 猪油 2汤匙（可选）
- 1 1/2 cups shallot oil 香葱油 1又1/2杯
- 3/4 teaspoon salt 盐 3/4茶匙
- 1 teaspoon sugar 糖 1茶匙
- 1 teaspoon MSG 味精调味料 1茶匙
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce 生抽 3汤匙
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 蚝油 1汤匙
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce 老抽 2茶匙
Pork Belly 五花肉
- 500 grams pork belly (no skin) 五花肉（无皮）500克
Pork Belly Marinade 肉类腌料
- 1.5 teaspoons five spice powder 五香粉 1.5茶匙
- 1/4 teaspoon salt 盐 1/4茶匙
- 1 tablespoon sugar 糖 1汤匙
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 生抽 1汤匙
- 1.5 tablespoons oyster sauce 蚝油 1.5汤匙
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper 胡椒粉 1/4茶匙
- 1 tablespoon dark sweet thick sauce 老抽 1汤匙
Mushrooms 香菇
- 12 dried mushrooms soaked until soft (half per zongzi) 干香菇 12个泡软（每个粽子半个）
- 2-3 tablespoons shallot oil 香葱油 2-3汤匙
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 生抽 1汤匙
- 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder 五香粉 1/8茶匙
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 蚝油 1汤匙
Chestnuts 栗子
- 24 chestnuts 栗子 24个
- 2-3 tablespoons shallot oil 香葱油 2-3汤匙
- 1 teaspoon sugar 糖 1茶匙
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 生抽 1汤匙
- 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder 五香粉 1/8茶匙
Other Fillings 其他材料
- 100 grams dried shrimp 虾米 100克
- 300 grams mung beans 绿豆 300克
- 12 salted eggs (half per zongzi) 咸蛋 12个（每个粽子半个咸蛋）
- 300 grams shallots 小洋葱 300克
- 3 cups neutral cooking oil 菜油 3杯
Kitchen Tools 厨房用具
- 1 packet (300g) bamboo leaves 50-60 leaves (2-3 per zongzi) 竹叶 1包（300克），50-60片（每个粽子2-3片）
- grass water strings 粽绳
- kitchen strings 厨房绳子
Instructions
Step 1 – Day 1 Preparation
- Remove the skin from the pork belly and cut into 24 pieces. Marinate with the pork belly marinade ingredients and refrigerate overnight.
- Soak the mushrooms, chestnuts, bamboo leaves, and strings overnight.
Step 2 – Prepare the Bamboo Leaves
- On the following day, wipe the bamboo leaves to remove any dirt, wiping from head to tail (this helps prevent the cloth from getting stuck.)
- Place in a pot of hot water for 15 minutes to soften. Cut off the stiff top part.
- Stack the leaves to prevent drying (don't need to wipe dry). If they dry out, soak them in water again.
Step 3 – Soak and Prepare Ingredients
- Wash the mung beans until the water runs clear. Soak for 1 hour 45 minutes. Test by gently pressing them, they should easily break apart . Remove excess water.
- Wash the glutinous rice until clear and soak for 30 minutes. You will notice the rice puffing up slightly. Remove excess water and set aside.
- Remove the red membrane from the chestnuts and cook for 25 minutes until they break easily with a fork.
- Wash the dried shrimps and soak for 10 minutes.
- Remove the stems from the mushrooms and halve them.
- Clean the salted eggs, extract the yolks, and cut each in half.
- Thinly slice 300 grams of shallots.
Step 4 – Fry the Shallot Oil and Season the Fillings
- Add 3 cups of neutral cooking oil to a pan. Fry the shallots on medium heat until slightly golden brown, then remove from heat. The residual heat will turn them golden brown. Do not fry until fully golden as they may become burnt from the residual heat and become bitter.
- Fry the mushrooms with 2-3 tablespoons of shallot oil until fragrant. Then add the seasoning and saute until fragrant.
- Fry the chestnuts separately with 2-3 tablespoons of shallot oil. Add seasoning and saute until fragrant.
- Repeat for the dried shrimps.
Step 5 – Season the Rice
- Clean the wok. Add lard and 1 1/2 cups of shallot oil to the hot wok.
- Add the soaked glutinous rice and toss until coated. Add all rice seasoning and continue frying until fragrant. The rice will become slightly sticky.
Step 6 – Wrap the Bak Chang
- Arrange all the fillings in the order they will be placed: mung beans, pork belly, salted egg yolk, mushroom, chestnut, dried shrimps, fried shallots, shallot oil.
- Fold 2-3 bamboo leaves into a cone shape, smooth side facing inwards. Make sure the corners overlap to prevent rice from falling out.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of rice and press tightly. Then add mung beans, one piece of meat, half of a salted egg yolk, one piece of mushroom, one chestnut, dried shrimps, fried shallots and some shallot oil. Add more mung beans and top with more rice.
- Press the filling until it is compact. Gently press the sides with your thumb and index finger while using the other hand to fold the bamboo leaves. You will see a tail. Fold the tail towards you to form a pyramid shape. If the bamboo leaves are not long enough, add an extra leaf if needed. Secure tightly with grass water string or kitchen string.
Step 7 – Cook the Bak Chang
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Gently add the dumplings and reduce to a gentle simmer — the water should only be gently bubbling to prevent the dumplings from falling out.
- Cook for approximately 1 hour 45 minutes. Monitor the water level and top up with boiling water as needed to keep the dumplings fully submerged.
- They are done when the rice is tender and the pork belly fat has a melt-in-the-mouth texture. Remove from the pot and allow to cool to room temperature.(note: you can remove one dumpling to test.)
Notes
- Smooth side of the leaves faces inwards. This prevents the rice from sticking to the leaves.
- Press the filling until compact. Packing the filling tightly makes it easier to fold and prevents the rice from falling out.
- Always top up with boiling water. Never add cold water during cooking — it drops the temperature and affects the cooking time.
- Check all corners of the triangle when wrapping. Make sure the bamboo leaves overlap well at every corner so water cannot seep in.
- Tie the strings tightly. If not tied properly, the dumplings will fall apart in the pot.
- Cook on low heat. Water should be gently bubbling so that the rice doesn’t fall out from the bamboo leaves.
