INTRODUCTION

I have never intended to share this recipe though I have eaten many times Teochew aka Chaozhou style of dumplings. It is the buyer who has requested to buy such dumplings  and that prompted me to research and blog this recipe.

One old Teochew lady used to prepare this type of dumpling and gave me and my wife before I started to learn how to wrap dumplings. In addition, my mother in law who is a Teochew also asked for savoury rice dumpling with sweet fillings.

I loved Teochew dumplings.  Teochew dumplings do have its uniqueness. The most importance difference is that it has a sweet filling and also some savoury fillings. It is very enjoyable to eat a dumpling that has meat and finished off with something sweet in the dumplings.  Among other characteristics are : Whitish rice, small pieces of meat and mushrooms and sweet fillings. The main flavouring spices are the white pepper powder plus a bit of five spice powder.

As for the sweet fillings, there are many alternatives. I have eaten those added black tausa and lotus paste fillings. I know that mung bean paste can also be used.  In China, dates paste is used too..

When glutinous rice are stuck into the sweet fillings, there is always a chance that the rice are not cooked even though the outside rice are already cooked. Therefore, pork lard nettings are use to wrap the sweet fillings such that the glutinous rice has no chance of stuck into fillings.

If you really has no access to pork lard nettings, one way is to put the sweet fillings at one end and segregated by the layer of savoury fillings. You can get this pork lard nettings from the butchers at wet market, when cooked, these nettings will dissolve and become pork lard.

While most have used chestnuts as the nut of choice, however, for me, i have decided to use both lotus seeds and chestnuts. I find that the lotus seeds blend very well with the dumplings but the decision is yours. Pre-soaking and braising of nuts are preferred, however, if you are running short of time, you can easily get these ready processed nuts from the supermarkets. 

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 20 dumplings depend on size

Sweet fillings

• 500 grams of red bean paste divided into 20 balls *
• Some pork lard nettings*

* Other sweet fillings that can be considered are mung bean paste, yam paste, lotus paste or even dates paste

** It all depends on how much you have. If you can get more, you can wrap more times. Otherwise, at least wrap once. You can ask around the butcher at wet market.

Savoury Fillings

• 1 kg of pork belly meat, cut into small pieces
• 100 grams of dried mushrooms, soaked and sliced thinly
• 100 grams of dried shrimps, soaked
• 2 tablespoons of minced garlic shallot
• 5 tablespoons of deep fried shallots

Seasonings For Savoury Fillings

• 3 tablespoons of caramelized dark soya sauce
• 2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce
• Dashes of white pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of sugar

Rice Portions

• 1 kg of glutinous rice, soak for at least 2 hours
• 1 tablespoon of chicken stock powder
• 2 teaspoons of white pepper powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of 5 spice powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil

Others

• 200 grams of nuts of your choice (chestnuts, lotus seeds, gingko nuts or peanuts)***
• 40 pieces of bamboo leaves
• 20 strings (can be nylon, cloth or reed strings) for tying

*** I bought ready processed nuts from the supermarket . If you used raw nuts, you may need to soak at least overnight and if you want flavouring, prior braising is needed.

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Divide the red bean paste or other sweet fillings into 20 balls . Cut the pork lard netting such that it is adequate to wrap the balls. Wrap the filling balls and set aside. 

• Soak the bamboo leaves over night using cold water, brush away the dirt and cut off the hard vein at the end of the leaves. This will facilitate the wrapping.

• Soak the glutinous rice overnight, drain and set aside. 1/2 hours before wrapping, drain the soaked glutinous rice, white pepper powder, salt,   chicken stock powder and salt to taste. Stir until well mixed and set aside. . 

• In a wok, put a few tablespoons of cooking oil, sauté the minced garlic shallots until aromatic. Add the dried shrimps and mushrooms and stir fry until fragrant. Add the meat followed by the dark soya sauces, caramelized dark soya sauce, sugar and white pepper. Stir fry and add some water. Bring to boil, once it boils, reduce the heat to medium to braise the meat for about 15 minutes. Increase the heat to high and stir fry until the gravy is as dry as you can. Best prepare this one night in advance for flavour to develop.

• Take two bamboo leaves and make it in a shape of a cone. Put a ball of sweet fillings, followed by a few  nuts and  2 tablespoons of meat fillings. Press firm downwards. Put another 1-2 tablespoons of rice on top of the fillings.  Press firmly downwards. Alternatively, you can put a tablespoons of rice followed by a tablespoon of meat and nuts. Add the sweet filling balls, add another tablespoon of meat fillings and ensure that the sweet fillings has not contact with the rice.  Finally, put 1-2 tablespoons of rice before on top of the meat fillings and press firmly downwards.
• Press the tail of the bamboo leaves to cover the top portion and shape the tail like a swallow tail. Twist it side wards to follow the shape of the Chang. By now, your Chang should be in triangular shape and you should be able to hold the Chang in one hand.

• Take a string and loop around the Chang tie using a live knot. tie it firm and if you find that Chang are not really  in the shape you want, try to adjust it now.  Loosen the string or adjust the bamboo leaves to shape it to the desired shape. After wrapping, cut off the excess leaves and check that there are no holes resulted from rough handling and there are small areas that are not covered with the leaves.

• Transfer the wrapped rice dumpling using a pressure cooker, add hot boiling water enough to cover all the dumpling. Pressure cook the dumpling for at least 30 minutes. Take out a dumpling and try if the texture is what you are looking for. Otherwise extend the pressure cooking time. For stove cooking, it will need at least 3-4 hours to get a soft glutinous texture.

CONCLUSION

I have decided to issue this recipe because it is a fast dwindling recipe. In addition, i have been asked by a number of my buyers to prepare this for sales as they can’t buy it elsewhere. I am please with this batch except the meat is not as tender as i want it to be. In my next attempt, I will pre-braise the meat instead of stir frying.

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