BACANG (ZONG ZI)

Bacang (or Zong Zi in Mandarin; Zhong in Cantonese) is traditional Chinese Food, made of glutinous rice, stuffed with different fillings (usually pork and salty egg yolk) and wrapped in bamboo leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling.

In Chinese, we eat bacang every fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar (we called it "Bacang Day"). But, nowadays, bacang is a common food for everyone, so you can find bacang anytime and everywhere. Also, the fillings are vary, some people substitute pork to chicken or beef.

This is my first bacang ever, and mine was made of rice, pork and shiitake (I prefer rice than glutinous rice). Actually, when I decide make bacang, am a bit worry the shape will not nice, as we know, the hard part making bacang is wrapping. But, suprisingly, my bacang turned so good and nice in shape. I learnt how to wrap bacang from here ..... *thank's dear for sharing it!*. And I found, it is not as hard as my thinking, the only thing needed is PRACTICE.

Myself, when I wrapped it, the first 4 bacang are messy, but the rests are ok :).

Anyway, it gave me satisfaction when I know I passed the hard part of making bacang :). It is not 100% perfect, but for a beginner like me, it is ok already :).

Bacang (Zong Zi)

Ingredients:

For The Rice:

1 kg uncooked rice, washed and soaked in the water for 1 hour

6 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 tsp salt

6 tbsp vegetable oil (using pork's oil is giving better fragrant)

2 tbsp salty soy sauce

3 cups of water

For The Filling:

750 gr ground pork

100 gr pork's fat, diced (optional)

4 stalks of scallions, minced

3 tbsp salty soy sauce

1 tbsp mushroom soy sauce

6 tbsp sweet soy sauce (Indonesian soy sauce -- you can add it if you like)

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp hong jiu (also named 'angciu')

6 pieces shiitake mushroom, small diced

1 tsp salt

1-1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp tapioca starch

Spice Paste:

1 tbsp dried shrimp

10 cloves of shallot

6 cloves of garlic

Wrapper: bamboo leaves (Belzy -- I bought dried bamboo leaves @ Asian Market), soaked in hot water for min 1 hour, rinsed and drained before using it.

Methods:

For The Rice:

Heat oil on a pan and stir in garlic until fragrant. Stir in salt, salty soy sauce and uncooked rice, stir well until rice absorbed oil and spices. Pour in water, cook it with medium heat until the rice did absorb the whole water (the rice is 30% cooked only). Set aside.

For The Filling:

Heat sesame oil on a pan and stir in spice paste until brown and fragrant. Stir in ground pork until the color is no longer pink. Stir in the rest of ingredients until cooked. The last, pour tapioca starch, stir until caramelized and done.

For Wrapping Method: check here please.

Finishing: boil bacang for 3 hours or until thoroughly cooked. I used pressure cooker, and need 1 hour only. But please make sure all bacang are covered by water.