Sunday, June 14, 2009

Bak Chang!


YES! And that ladies and gentleman, is the bak chang that I MADE! haha, i am so glad i accomplished this mission of mine to learn how to make bak chang this year. YAY!

Well, to be frank, I didnt fully make it myself la. We went to seek the wisdom of this wise auntie. Yep, LL's aunt is ever willing to impart her knowledge to youngins. We must not let this tradition die!
Anyway, this bak chang version is on the healthy side - less salt, less oil but chockful of liao!

So here we are the ingredients.
- Pork (must get those layered with fat, marinate with salt, pepper, 5 spice chinese powder, light and dark soy sauce),
- Dried oysters (soaked),
- Chestnuts (boil till soft and peel off the skin),
- Mushrooms (Soaked and then braised with salt and pepper),
- Salted egg yolk.
- Pulut rice (washed, soaked for a bit then drained),


First work on the rice. Heat up oil, sautee shallots and garlic till fragrant. Add rice and stir fry. Add salt, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. Adjust the seasoning to desired amount. Some ppl like it darker so just add more dark soy sauce. Put aside.


Next comes the pork. Heat up some oil, fry up some garlic slices and some minced garlic. When its fragrant, add the pork and cook it till its half done. Put aside.


Here comes the more complicated part. Bamboo leaves. Blanch them first then wipe clean. Select 2 and arrange them at opposite directions. They don't have to be directly overlapping each other, you can adjust to have them arranged like above so you have more width and length to work with.


Next, fold like so.

To make a cone shape. Make sure you get this part right and there's no hold at the bottom fold or the contents will spill out during the cooking process.



Put a tablespoon of rice.

Fill it in with the yummy ingredients, - mushrooms, pork, chestnut, dried oyster, egg yolk and maybe one more slice of that yummy pork.



Top up with more rice, make sure it covers up the ingredients. Press it down well to make sure its all compacted.



Here comes the tough part. Hold the cone properly and shape it like so


Flip it over while still holding the sides firmly. Fold up the sides of the leaves then twist it like below.




Hmm i think my pics arent too clear. Sorry!



Then tie it up firmly with the strings. (I think those strings are bamboo fibres)


There's our bounty. Before boiling them, check thru to ensure they are all firmly tied and trim the hard stems off the leaves and also for a neater look la.

Boil them in a deep pot for about 1.5 hours. This depends on the size of your chang. The larger ones should take about 2 hours.


Voila! Delicious, mouthwatering Bak Chang... I love the creaminess of the chestnut, the salty egg yold and melt in your mouth pork. Of course not forgetting the sticky rice that has soaked in all the flavours of the ingredients.

Enjoy! I know I did :)