Bak Chang Recipe
Chinese June 16th, 2008
We’ve finally reached the third installment in the Bak Chang series and today, I will feature our family Bak Chang recipe. Now, this recipe is definitely not for beginners as a considerable amount of skill and estimation on ingredients are required. You see, with home-cooked food, we don’t measure ingredients using measuring spoons or cups. Rather, it’s a lot to do with estimation or what the locals call “agak-agak” (”estimate”). So, this recipe is a guide for you so that you roughly know what ingredients go into the Bak Chang and how is is prepared and cooked.
This Bak Chang recipe is quite close to the Nyonya Bak Chang especially in the taste department. It is probably world’s apart from Cantonese Bak Chang which tends to be a bit on the saltish side and contains bigger chunks of ingredients. Those who are fond of eating saltish Bak Changs might find this not suited to their palate because our Bak Chang recipe is sweet and saltish with a slight emphasis on the former. Nevertheless, for those who are craving for a slightly sweetish Bak Chang, this might be the recipe you are looking for. In this recipe, we are looking at making approximately 25 Bak Changs depending on how you wrap the Bak Chang.
This is our family recipe for Bak Chang
Ingredients
- 1 kg glutinous rice (washed, pre-soaked for 4 to 6 hours and drained)
- 1 kg pork (lean pork from the fore thigh, cut into small cubes not more than 1cm sides)
- 300 grammes dried winter melon (cut into small cubes not more than 1cm sides)
- 250 grammes dried prawns (rinsed and pounded)
- 15 pieces chinese dried mushroom (pre-soaked till soft and cut into cubes not more than 1 cm sides)
- 8 shallots (sliced thinly)
- 1 bulb garlic (chopped)
- 60 pieces Bak Chang bamboo leaves (washed thoroughly and boiled for 15 minutes to soften)
- 5 tablespoons cooking oil
- 10 pieces pandan leaves (knotted)
- Reed or Banana stem reed to tie
Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons dark soya sauce
- 4 tablespoons coriander powder (ketumbar)
- Liberal dashes of white pepper powder
Method
Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil in wok and fry 1/2 the garlic and shallots till aromatic. Add glutinous rice, 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce, 1 tablespoon of ketumbar and 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper powder. Stir well. Remove and leave to cool.
Heat up 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in wok and fry the other half of garlic and shallots till aromatic. Add dried prawns and stir till aromatic. Next, add mushrooms and pork. Stir well followed by adding of winter melon and seasoning to taste. Stir till even and pork is cooked. Set aside to cool.
Wrap the Bak Changs. Bring to boil a large pot of water and throw in the pandan leaves. Boil Bak Chang for 3 hours completely submerged and covered. For best results, use a charcoal stove. For quick cooking, use a pressure cooker and boil for approximately 45 minutes on pressure and 15 minutes standing.
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I did an easy one. I’ll try your stew duck 1...
June 17th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Now if only can can find all the leaves..
June 17th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
OK…i will certainly try out this recipe. Making nyonya bakchangs is certainly easier and faster than the cantonese ones
June 18th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Came by via Foodgawker. This was my absolute favorite growing up and I haven’t had it in years. Reminds me I need to go visit my mom for a taste
June 19th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Rex : Want some? I can source and ship them to you
Pureglutton : Really? I haven’t tried making Cantonese Bak Chang but I don’t think I would because personally, I prefer the taste of this type of Bak Chang.
Sharon : Welcome to my kitchen here
Is your mum making bak chang this year?
June 20th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Thank you for a great site. I appreciate all the recipes you posted, especially this Bak Chang recipe. I am a Chinese Malaysian living in the U.S. at the moment.
More thanks!
June 21st, 2008 at 11:52 am
Wow, that is my favourite. When I was young, I could take that for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Is hard to find nice ‘bak chang’ and I dont know how long needed to boil it so have not tried to make it. Now that I know is 3 hours, I will definite give it a try, thanks for the recipe.
Have a wonderful day!
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Yummy. Nice photography
June 27th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Oooh, how I miss chang, so many different kinds of chang. Your photos are getting better. Congrats.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:31 am
Haven’t had bak chang for a while now… I like to have it with a bit of Maggi chili sauce.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
beanna : Are you able to get any over there?
molly : Don’t forget to let me know how it turned out after you’ve tried your hands making them!
noobcook : You flatter me
Rasa Malaysia : I still need to learn from you on food photography
mycookinghut : Wah! With Maggi chilli sauce? That must have added a nice sour twist to it.
July 25th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Thanks for posting this. I have always been wondering how bak chang is made. While it taste good, I’m sure there is a lot of work involve in it.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
fortesfidelis : It’s a lot of work, believe me!