Bak Chang or ZongZi (粽子) is traditionally eaten during the DuanWu (端午节) or Dragon Boat Festival which falls on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese calendar.
It is a festival to commemorate the death of a poet of Royal descent by the name of QuanYu (屈原) who opposed the conquering of the Qin Kingdom (秦国) of his homeland capital of Chu Kingdom (楚国). The patriotic poet drowns himself on the Miluo River and the local people who respected the patriotic poet threw lumps of rice into the river to prevent the fishes to eat the poet. It was also said that the Dragon Boat race was also born from this legend where the locals rowed boats and made loud noises with drums to scare away the fishes.
Anyways, enough said about the story or legend of DuanWu, lets get to to yummy part of this festival! The Bak Chang or ZongZi!
Have I ever mentioned that I am Crazy over glutinous rice?
I absolutely love glutinous rice ~ sweet or savory.
Its an amazing type of short-grained Asian rice which is sticky when cooked.
Read more on Glutinous rice from wikipedia!
Nowadays, there are plenty of varieties of bak chang available in restaurants stuffed with 'expensive' ingredients i.e. abalone, etc but I prefer the simple homestyle ones stuffed with green beans (luk dao), sliver of chinese mushroom, pork belly slice, salted egg yolk and chestnuts.
Its amazing how the flavor of all those ingredients mixed with soy sauce and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves can be sooo addictive. I can never get enough of the lovely aroma of a fresh steamed or boiled bak chang and even more so the fantastic savory taste of it!!
Oh… I have a tendency to eat my bak chang(s) with a dash of light soy sauce and a sprinkle of sugar… weird? Absolutely not! It totally enhances the savory taste of the bak chang, serious!! Give it a try next time you eat your favorite bak chang.
In the mean time, enjoy eating your bak chang(s) if you have not already finish them all!
Nowadays, there are plenty of varieties of bak chang available in restaurants stuffed with 'expensive' ingredients i.e. abalone, etc but I prefer the simple homestyle ones stuffed with green beans (luk dao), sliver of chinese mushroom, pork belly slice, salted egg yolk and chestnuts.
Its amazing how the flavor of all those ingredients mixed with soy sauce and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves can be sooo addictive. I can never get enough of the lovely aroma of a fresh steamed or boiled bak chang and even more so the fantastic savory taste of it!!
Oh… I have a tendency to eat my bak chang(s) with a dash of light soy sauce and a sprinkle of sugar… weird? Absolutely not! It totally enhances the savory taste of the bak chang, serious!! Give it a try next time you eat your favorite bak chang.
In the mean time, enjoy eating your bak chang(s) if you have not already finish them all!
