My granny's bakchang recipes

It's that time of the year again, and this year I thought I would blog about it for posterity. There are no quantities - just estimate. Glutinous rice will have some regular rice mixed in. For a better texture, pick out the grains of plain rice (they are translucent) if there are any. My mum has found Sheng Siong's Happy Family brand to be of good quality, with hardly any regular rice grains mixed in. Bamboo leaves have to be boiled and wiped down with a wet towel. Hemp string bundles should be washed. Keep leaves damp until you are done wrapping.

Savoury bakchang

1. Glutinous rice: rinse, drain well, and stirfry lightly with shallot oil, white pepper, five spice powder, salt, light and dark soya sauces. Do not overcook as the rice will get sticky.
2. Pork belly: remove skin and brown bite-sized pieces in shallot oil, white pepper, five spice powder, salt, light and dark soya sauces. Cover and let cook for awhile, but take care not to overcook.
3. Chestnuts: scald. soak, remove skin, and (optionally) brown in shallot oil.
4. Dried shiitake mushrooms: braise with juices from cooking pork belly. Cut into four.
5. Salted egg yolks: clean salted eggs, separate yolks and white and rinse yolks. Add a bit of oil to keep yolks from sticking together. Divide into thirds with thread.
6. Dried shrimp: pick out shell and brown in shallot oil.

Once ingredients are assembled, you are ready to start wrapping. Before cooking, tie a second knot in the bundle at the top, nearer to the dumplings. This is to prevent the excess string from getting tangled up in the pot. Excess string at the other end can be trimmed.

Finished dumplings should be boiled for 3 hours. After 1.5 hours, remove dumplings and replace them in the pot so that the ones at the bottom are on top and vice versa. Be ready to top water up with boiling water, so that it covers all the dumplings. After dumplings are cooked, allow them to cool down first if you intend to refrigerate them. They freeze well. Reheat before eating.


Sweet bakchang

1. Glutinous rice: rinse, drain well, and mix with alkaline water and cooking oil.
2. Red beans: cook in water till mushy in slow cooker, then cook again with sugar and oil till dry enough to form balls.

Procedure as above, but cooking time is a total of 2 hours (swap position of dumplings after an hour).

The wrapping
This seems to be the most intimidating part, but it really only takes patience and practice. Start small and slow. If your leaves are small, it's near impossible to make big dumplings and vice versa. We usually double leaves up for a more solid dumpling. Wrap string around twice before knotting.

Home recipes: Cantonese soups

I imagine there are as many Cantonese soup recipes as there are Cantonese mothers! Here is a list, mostly from my granny. I collect new ones from my aunt in HK, tv programmes on TVB and the web.

When I say Cantonese soups, I mean soups that are slow-cooked (老火汤, to 煲汤).

Watercress
Dried jujubes (red dates)
Dried octopus
Pork bones

Radish (daikon)
Dried cuttlefish
Pork bones

Old cucumber
Dried oysters
Pork shin/shank/hock (muscle) 猪展

Lotus root
Dried jujubes (red dates)
Dried octopus
Pork muscle

Black beans
Pork muscle
Dried jujubes
Chicken feet

菜干
Dried jujubes (red dates)
Dried octopus
Pork bones

Dried straw mushroom/shiitake with chicken

Pork ribs
Snow pear
Apricot seeds (南杏北杏）

Watercress
Pork muscle
Dried figs
Apricot seeds
Snakehead fish

Ginseng
Dried whelk/chicken

Dried whelk
Chicken
Wintermelon
Jinhua ham
Dried scallop

六味湯
Pork muscle (omit and add sugar to make 糖水)
淮山 （山药）
玉竹
龙眼
芡实
百合
莲子 (or Chinese barley 薏米, which is the recipe my dad remembers from his childhood)

Chicken
北芪
党参
杞子 （构杞子）

Pork muscle
Beetroot
Green apples
Carrots

Pork muscle
Sweet corn
Carrots

Pork muscle
Pumpkin (or kabocha or butternut)

TBC...

Home recipes: chicken

Marinade for grilled/roast/BBQ chicken

• Premium dark soy sauce (generous amount to get a better colour)
• Ginger juice (from freshly grated ginger)
• Shaoxing rice wine
• Sesame oil
• Maggi seasoning
• A generous amount of salt

You get the best results by marinating the chicken (whole or pieces) overnight. I like to salt my chicken really well, which also helps to produce a crisp skin. Alternatively, you could put less salt in the marinade, and brush on more salt before cooking - that should give you a crisp skin without the flesh becoming too salty.


Steamed chicken 蒸鸡

• Chicken pieces, chopped small for faster cooking
• Salt
• Shaoxing rice wine
• Sesame oil
• Soy sauce (light and dark)
• Dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked, steamed and sliced thinly
• Black fungus 云耳, soaked and sliced
• Dried lily buds 金针, soaked, hard ends removed and knotted
• Preserved large-rooted mustard 大头菜, julienned and soaked
• Ginger, julienned
• Spring onions to garnish

Season chicken with salt, wine, sesame oil and light soy sauce. A little dark soy sauce can be added for colour. Marinate for at least 3 hours.

Mix chicken with other ingredients and arrange on a large plate. A thin layer will ensure faster cooking. Steam. Half a chicken will take at least 20 minutes to cook (stir after 10 minutes).

Garnish with spring onions.


Ho See Fatt Choy (sounds like 好事发财 in Canto, thus eaten for CNY)

• Chicken back, feet and fat
• Dried shiitake (keep the stems if they are Japanese - will be tender enough to eat when cooked)
• Ho see (dried oysters - bigger ones are better for braising)
• Light soya sauce and salt
• Water

Simmer chicken parts and fat, and mushrooms together with water and seasoning. The whole braising process will take about 3h. In the last hour, add oysters. Fatt choy can be added towards the end if you have it (add too early and it'll dissolve). Serve on top of veggie leaves (my grandma says lettuce but I guess cooked bakchoy will do too). If you want more chicken to eat, you can use chicken wings too.


Braised sea cucumber

Dried spiny sea cucumbers are the best, if you can afford them. Soak them overnight, then boil till they are soft enough to cut open. Scrape away as much of the innards as you can, then boil for an hour or so and scrape again. If it's still not clean, you'll need to repeat the process from soaking overnight onwards, till they are clean - the sea cucumber is dirty lil bugger! As you do this you have to be careful not to overcook them till they disintegrate. Braise the result with chicken, chicken feet and dried shiitake.