How to make Malacca Nyonya Zhang (Glutinous Rice Dumplings)

How to make Malacca Nyonya Zhang (Glutinous Rice Dumplings) | ASMR with ambient various bird sounds | Turn on captions for instructions | This recipe makes 20-25 Zhangs depending on the size you make it
Ingredients:
1kg glutinuous rice, soaked in water with 1 Tbsp salt overnight (Separate approximately 300g and soak in blue pea colouring)
Blue colouring - extract this from the Blue Pea Flower (Bunga Telang) by seeping the flowers in hot water for minimum an hour
For the filling:
4 Tbsp cooking oil
6 shallots, coarsely chopped
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
6 Tbsp coriander powder, mixed into a firm paste with 2 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp preserved bean paste (taucheo)
1 tbsp cinnamon powder, 1 tbsp star anise powder, 1 tbsp pepper
350g pork belly lean side, cut into small cubes
120g candied winter melon, coarsely chopped
10 Chinese mushrooms, soaked in water and cubed
5 pcs dried chestnut chopped
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp pepper
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic oil
Bamboo leaves (washed, boiled and soaked in water overnight)
Hemp strings (for tying the dumplings)
Pandan leaves (cut into 2” lengths and few leaves for steaming with rice)
Instructions:
Prep one day before:
1. Clean and soak the leaves in water overnight.
2. Wash glutinous rice and separate approximately one third of the rice into another bowl. Add water and blue coloring and soak overnight.
The day of:
1. Chop up garlic, shallots, mushrooms and candied winter melon.
2. Blend cinnamon, star anise, pepper and coriander seeds, add water to form a paste.
3. Cook the filling. Heat up the oil and sauté the shallots and garlic. When these turn golden yellow, add in the coriander paste, cinnamon, star anise and stir fry for 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add in the pork, preserved bean paste, candied melons, mushrooms and stir-fry for another 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Add in 2 tablespoons of water, season with dark soy sauce, salt, pepper and sugar.
6. Cook till most of the liquid has evaporated, then dish out and cool.
7. Drain the water from soaked glutinous rice, add 1 tsp of salt and garlic oil and mix well. Steam for 5 minutes. (we don't want to fully cook the rice) Do this for the blue glutinous rice too.
8. To wrap the zhang: Fold the bamboo leaf into a cone. Scoop in half a teaspoon of the blue coloured rice and 2 tablespoons of the white glutinuous rice. Scoop in 2 tablespoons of the filling and cover that with another 1 tablespoons of the white glutinuous rice.
9. Place a piece of the cut pandan leaf (2” length) on top of the rice. Fold the leaf over and wrap into a dumpling and tie securely with the hemp string.
10. In a large pot, boil the dumplings in rapidly boiling water for 2 hours, the conventional way. If a pressure cooker is used, boil for about 40 minutes. Once the dumplings are cooked, hang them up to dry before serving.
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