The hardwares
- Bamboo leaves – soak these overnight in water , and if you still find that they are not soft enough, boil them in water. ( if the leaves are not soft enough, they will be brittle and breaks easily during wrapping)
- Strings – you will need to soak these too ( unless you are using the raffia strings)
- A big pot to boil the dumplings
The yummy stuff /ingredients
1 kg of glutinous rice, soak in water for a while, drain- add some salt and oil and mix well ( some versions will also call for adding some soya sauce and thick soya sauce into the rice and fry it for a bit before wrapping)
Pork , cut into big cubes , marinate overnight with :-5 spice powder, pepper, salt, sesame oil, oyster sauce, thick soy sauce and soy sauce
Split green beans- soaked in water for 10 – 30 minutes
Dried prawns – soaked in water for 1-2 hours
Mushroom- soak to soften , marinate overnight with 5 spice powder, oyster sauce, thick soy sauce, soy sauce and some sugar ( retain the water used for soaking to boil the dumplings )
Chestnut- soak overnight and remove the bits of skin/shell that are caught in the crevices
Salted egg yolks ( divide 1 yolk into 4 portions)
Optionals :- dried sotong, peanuts, broad beans, Chinese sausages etc
NB: for 1kg of glutionous rice, we made ~ 35 pieces of s-sized dumplings
Keeping it under wraps
The most challenging part of dumpling making is of course the wrapping, and the number of leaves used will depend on the shape and size of the dumplings. This is the version that my mum makes.
If you would like to see a video of this , please click here , or read on
1.take 2 leaves, cross them at the centre- make an X
2. twist the leaves to make a conical shaped ‘mould’ (like the shape of an upside down nasi lemak )
3. put all the ingredients into the mould
4. Add additional leaves at the sides if required
5. Fold-down both sides of the leaves –covering the contents of the dumplings
6. Fold over the leaves at one end
7. Fold over the leaves of the other end
8. use a string to secure the dumpling
9.ending up with a knot on the ‘under side’ of the dumpling
10. Cut away the excess part of the leaves
11. Boil the dumplings – in order to save time, you could start to heat up the water while wrapping the dumplings, add some salt into the water ( you can also pour in the water used to soak the mushrooms). the time required will depend on the size of the dumpling, the ones that I did ( considered small size) took about 1:15 hours, larger sizes may take up to 2- 2:30 hours.
Bon appetite !!
NB: to make things easier / if you chose not to ‘wrap’ the dumplings, what you can do is lined a bowl use for steaming with lotus leaf / bamboo leaves, pour in the ingredients, and steamed it.
NB2: i was reminded not to forget to give credit to the photographer.
