Ba Chang Festival has a sad legend behind it

Today is Ba Chang festival so I am re-posting this recipe for the benefit of those who have missed it when it was posted early last year.

I want to dedicate this post to my Mum’s best friend, whom I call “Ah Sum” (aunty). She is 86 years old this year, very healthy and alert and still cooks and sews fabulously! She cooks lots of mouth watering dishes and one of her specialties is Ba Chang. She makes a lot of it to give away to family and friends on the fifth month of the Chinese Lunar calendar every year. 

According my Mum, the Ba Chang festival is to commemorate the death of a famous Chinese poet called Qu Yuan who lived during the warring states period in China. He drowned himself because he failed to warn his king of the expansionism of their Qin neighbor who eventually took over their capital city.  According to legend, people throw packets of rice into the river where he was drowned to prevent fish from eating his body. I find this legend rather wierd because it seemed like we get to eat nice food every year because someone took his life? Furthermore, why bother to wrap the rice so nicely to throw them into the sea? My mum said I am always thinking too much and asking too many questions. This is her way of asking me to zip my big mouth. LOL!

Coming back to making the Ba Chang, it is not difficult to prepare the rice and the fillings but the tricky part is the wrapping of the rice with the leaves.  “Ah Sum” is the expert.  She made it look so easy but when I do it, everything falls apart.. *SIGH*

Ba Chang (Rice dumplings)

Serving : 10 ba chang

INGREDIENTS:

300 g Belly Pork


200 g mei dou, (black eye pea)

10 Preserved egg yolks

600 g Glutinous rice

10 pieces dried shitake mushrooms

2 tsps Five-spice powder

100 gm dried shrimps

10 roasted chestnuts

black sauce, according to taste

3 tbsp garlic

3 tbsp shallots

rice wine according taste

Seasoning:

2 tbs Spicy salt

1 Chicken cube

¼ ts Pepper

1 tbs Sugar

2 tb Oil

¼ ts Salt

1 tbs Oil

1 tsp Sugar

Wrapping Materials:

20 Straws

30 Bamboo leaves

Method:

In a wok, heat oil and stir fry garlic and shallots until fragrant. Add rice and continue to fry for 5 to 7 minutes. Add black sauce and five spice powder and continue to fry for 5 to 7 minutes and set aside. Cut the belly pork into 10 large chunks and marinate for 2 days with 2 ts five-spice powder and 1 ts salt. Wash and drain the glutinous rice. Mix well with ½ tbsp sugar, chicken cube, oil and pepper. Soak the mei dou (black eye pea) in water to for 3 hours. Drain and set aside. Soak the dried shitake mushrooms in warm water for 1 hours. Squeeze dry and cut slices and set aside. Steam for 10 minutes. Wash and boil the bamboo leaves until soft. Drain and towel-dry. Take 3 bamboo leaves and make a cup. Put a layer of glutinous rice on the bamboo leaves and add a layer of mei dou. Top with a preserved egg yolk, a piece each of belly pork, 2 slices of cooked shitake mushroom and 1 piece of roasted chestnut. Cover with a layer of mei dou and another layer of glutinous rice. Fold in the leaves to form a triangle dumpling, then tie firmly with straw. Prepare a deep saucepan and line with several bamboo leaves. Put in the rice dumplings, then fill with enough water to cover them. Use high heat to bring the water to a boil, then reduce to moderate heat and continue to boil for 6 hours. Remove and drain. Serve hot.

Here is the link to a video to show you the ba chang chronicles. Hope this makes it easier for you to understand how to do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNtzi3jC9fU

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