Well, yesterday 9th June 2008 was the dragon boat festival. I missed it totally. I’m not one who follows the chinese culture festival except when someone told me about it. What with the price hike and everyone worrying about food hike, I totally forgotten about it. I haven’t celebrated this festival for more than 10 years now. Why you ask ? No one eat the dumplings and non of us make any. Used to buy them from the wet market but it very costly. Then 2 days before, CAP – Consumer Association of Penang, reported that most dumplings (bak chang) has acid boric in it. So why bother buying it anyway. Make your own rice dumpling. hehehe
1. place opposite end of the two leaves together.
2. fold leaves to form a cone.
3. put 1 tbsp full of rice into cone and 3 tbsp full of filling. top up with 1 tbsp full of rice.
4. fold over leaves to cover the top.
5. press stuffed leaves into pryramid shape.
6. fold top piece of leaf to cover the top surface and fold remaining part to the side.
7. use string to tie around the dumpling securely.
8. cut away any long leaf edges.
9. submerge the dumpling in boiling water containing pandan leaves and a little salt and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours.
Okay… why is my header titled Dragon Boat Festival and I’m yakking about dumplings ? Let me start from the beginning.
The 5th day of the 5th lunar month is the DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL. As the day falls between spring and summer, (in China) the weather is warmer and people fall sick easily. It’s called the poisonous month or evil month.
On this day, the entire family must drink some Xionghuang wine, which is believed to be an detoxicant that is able to kill germs, relieve swelling and relieve heatiness.
Calamus (changpu) is a stimulant and has anti-bacterial properties. Chinese mugwort (baiai) is used to dispel dampness and colds, disperse phlegm, alleviate inflammations, and repel mosquitoes and houseflies. During the Dragon Boat Festival, people tie these plants on the door to ward off evil spirits. The children also wear fragrant pouches filled with the leaves of lingzhi (glossy ganoderma).
The story behind dumplings and dragon boats
According to legend, the tradition of eating dumplings and racing dragon boats began tocommenmorate Qu Yuan, a great patriotic poet during the Warring States period. A loyal citizen of Chu who has been banished because of slander, he plunged into the Gulao River in grief upon learning that the capital of Chu had fallen to the Qin army. The people rowed out in boats to try to save him, sounding out drums to scare the fish away. They failed to recover his body, and threw rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river to feed the fshes so they would not eat Qu Yuan’s body. Dragon Boat races and rice dumplings thus became a tradition.
Today, dragon boat racing is a well-loved international sportingevent, with more than 50 nations around the world taking part in the races each year.
So… now you know the story that had everyone eating dumpling at this time of the year. For recipes of the dumpling just google it. I’m sure there’s alot of food blogger that do put out their secret recipes to be shared with all. As for me, I’ve never made a bak chang on my own. I remembered learning how to make it with my granny when I was young. Since she past away, I’ve never attempted to make any on my own, Maybe, I will try in the near future.
Signing out with this photo from www.chinatownconnection.com/
green bitch
