Heritage Magazine Fall 2021

heritage ASIAN TRADITIONS IN CUISINE

FALL 2021

This Is The Page Subheader. I’m Not Sure Which Stories Will Be Using It Though.

This is the page subheader. I’m not sure which stories will be using it though.

INGREDIENTS 40 5 2 2 2/3 1 1/2

FLAVOURS THAT TASTE LIKE HOME

dried bamboo leaves cups uncooked short grain sticky (glutinous) rice tbsp light soy sauce (plus 2 tbsp) tsp salt (plus 1/2 tsp) cup raw peanuts lb pork belly (450g, cut into 12 pcs) tsp sugar

CAD $17.49 / USD $15.99

food that connects people to their roots DISPLAY FROM SEP 01 - DEC 31 2021

Contents

FALL 2021 ISSUE 3 SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER IN EVERY ISSUE

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EDITOR’S NOTE

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CONTRIBUTORS

77

RECIPE INDEX

DEPARTMENTS

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FESTIVE FUN

A brief run down of the upcoming festivities and cultural holidays celebrated by Asians around the world.

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MOONCAKE MANIA

IN SEASON: KABOCHA

A seasonal gourd that is popular in Asian cuisines. Find out how to cook Kabocha Pork Stir Fry & Kabocha Croquettes.

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IN SEASON: DAIKON

An easy to cook white radish with a mild, sweet flavour. Find out how to cook Daikon and Beef Brisket & Daikon Salad.

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IN SEASON: NAPA CABBAGE

A Chinese cabbage with tender leaves and mild flavour. Find out how to cook Okonomiyaki & Baechu Kimchi.

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WHAT’S TRENDING?

A breakdown of this season’s up and coming restaurants and chefs, popular dishes and drinks in social media, and do-ityourself cooking and baking projects to try at home.

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ON THE COVER

FL AVOURS FROM HOME

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MOONCAKE RECAP

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TREASURING TRADITION

A comprehensive look at all the different kinds of mooncakes, and regional differences between all the countries and cultures that celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival.

FLAVOURS FROM HOME

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THIT KHO TAU

VIETNAM

SINIGANG

PHILIPPINES

ADOBO

PHILIPPINES

TANG YUAN

CHINA

SWEET & SOUR PORK

HONG KONG

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NAM PRIK KAPI

THAILAND

ZONGZI

INDONESIA

Food serves as a connection between people and their cultures. Even when they are thousands of miles away, just by eating certain foods, you feel like you’re right back home.

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FL AVOURS FROM HOME

Thit Kho Tau Caramelized Pork Belly and Eggs

BY ANNA DUONG

Food has always been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember.

VIETNAM

My favourite thing to cook is undoubtedly thit kho tau, or caramelized pork and eggs. A staple in Vietnamese cuisine, thit kho tau is made from marinated pork belly and boiled eggs – either duck or quail eggs – cooked in coconut juice. The meaty flavor combined with the sweetness of sugar and coconut juice gives thit kho tau a unique savoury taste that goes extremely well with plain rice. Thit kho tau is usually served hot, making it the perfect food when the weather is a bit chilly, especially during Lunar New Year, or Tet – an important holiday in Vietnam.

and also her love language. Eating my mom’s thit kho tau fills me with an unexplainable sense of happiness, and I want to pass that happiness onto other people whom I cook for as well.

Since I started living far away from home at a young age, making thit kho tau has somewhat become a natural thing for me – I may even say that I feel the recipe in my blood. Like I’ve mentioned, it’s more than just throwing ingredients into a pot – it’s about patience, care and love. As I cook the dish for my friends – my found family in America – I think I can understand why my mom puts so much effort into making home-cooked meals every day. It’s the pride of our heritage, of generations of familial love and culture.

Growing up in an Asian family means that you and your family share home-cooked meals almost all around the clock, from breakfast to dinner—and that part of the culture and upbringing is the reason why I’ve obtained a passion for food, and therefore cooking. Moving to America at the age of 15 all by myself, I see cooking traditional Vietnamese dishes as a way for me to connect, to share my culture, and also to feel comforted in a foreign land.

Cooking thit kho tau is all about patience – waiting for the pork to fully marinate, then for it to simmer for around an hour and a half in a pot. It’s definitely not something you can just throw into the microwave and call it a day. I learned this from my mother, since to me, she makes the best thit kho tau out of all the variants I’ve tasted. My mom would sometimes wake up at as early as five a.m. to get fresh ingredients at a flea market, then cook the dish as breakfast for the whole family. Cooking is her favourite thing to do,

INGREDIENTS (ser ves 5)

INSTRUCTIONS (prep: 15 min, cook: 30 mins)

ADDITIONAL NOTES

PORK BELLY MARINADE

Clean the pork. Generously coat pork with salt (about 1 tablespoon) and give it an abrasive scrubbing. Rinse pork under cold water.

Slice pork into 2x2 inch cubes and place in a small stock pot. Add water to cover and heat on medium-high until water begins boiling. Once it starts boiling, immediately turn off the heat and transfer pork to a colander to rinse and drain dry.

Transfer the parboiled pork to a large bowl and marinate with fish sauce, stock powder, sugar, garlic, shallot and thick soy sauce/caramel cooking sauce for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

To the bottom of a small pot, add vegetable oil and heat on medium high. Add garlic and shallot. Saute until fragrant and lightly brown. Add marinated pork and all its liquid. Toss gently with aromatics.

Add eggs, water, coconut soda. Simmer on low without lid for 1 1/2 hours or until nicely tender. Serve with rice.

Duck eggs are used widely in Vietnam for a richer flavor.

Others opt for quail eggs.

This dish yields a lot of fat. If you make this dish ahead of time, put it in the fridge to cool. Pork fat will solidify at the top once cooled. Grab a spoon and scoop it out for a healthier version. Just don’t scoop out all of it, as fat is flavor! You can also skip the pork belly and use pork shoulder instead for a leaner version.

The trick to this dish is the longer the cooking time, the tender the meat and obviously the better the flavor.

2 1/3 1 2 1/2 2 1/2 1

lbs pork belly cup fish sauce tbsp chicken or mushroom stock powder tbsp granulated sugar garlic cloves (minced) large shallot (minced) tbsp thick soy sauce or homemade caramel cooking sauce

BRAISING LIQUID 1 2 1/2 3 1

tbsp vegetable oil garlic cloves (minced) large shallot (minced) cups water can (12 fl oz/355mL) coconut soda

OTHER INGREDIENTS 6

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hard-boiled eggs (peeled)

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When I feel weak and in distress, it’s the taste of my mom’s food that keeps me going – in my mind, there’s never anything better than going home, sitting at the dinner table with my family, and eating my mom’s delicious thit kho tau.

THIT KHO TAU: VICKY PHAM

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FL AVOURS FROM HOME

Sinigang & Adobo Classic Filipino Comfort Foods

BY CHUUN

It is often said that a country’s cuisine is a result of its ever-growing culture, that’s why it’s the best way to learn about it and connect with its people.

Because my parents moved to Europe when I was young, I was raised by my grandparents and was surrounded by a whole town of relatives. Filipino families are often very big and live closely, which is why I would often meet someone and discover we were relatives! Because of this, I was always surrounded by food—a neighbour would give us dinner, a relative

would give us fruits from travel—maybe that’s why I associated food with the feeling of being home. When I moved away from the Philippines during early high school, everything was so new - the language, the culture, the food - it felt like a whole new world and it was so hard to adapt. Thankfully, my parents often cook traditional Filipino meals to comfort us and to stay connected to our culture.

Coming from a country with only sunny and rainy weather, I thought 23 degrees celsius was already cold. After moving here, we would experience below zero temperature and it was just a whole new experience! To help warm us up, we would often eat a Filipino dish called sinigang, a sour soup-like food that’s easy to cook and is served hot, paired with rice.

Considered a staple in the Philippines, sinigang can be cooked with 3 main ingredients: Meat, a souring agent and vegetables. My favourite version is sinigang with shrimp and tamarind. Its sour-savoury taste and aromatic goodness are to die for! Since shrimp was pricey back in the Philippines, we would only eat shrimp sinigang on special occasions such as birthdays or festivals, with everyone sitting and chatting

PORK SINIGANG, FILIPINO CUISINE: DREAMSTIME PPY2010HA

Sinigang has evolved throughout the years and different types of ingredients are being introduced nowadays. From the most common ingredients such as pork and shrimp as meat and tamarind as the sour ingredient, to different kinds of fishes paired with guava, mangoes, calamansi, camias, santol or other sour fruits common in Southeast Asia. This is probably why almost everyone enjoys sinigang. With so much variety in ingredients, everyone can cook it to fit their taste and find comfort not only in eating them but also in cooking them. I remember sitting by my grandparents while they cooked sinigang.

They would explain how to cook it, when to add the right vegetables so they can be cooked perfectly and just how much seasoning should be added to achieve its iconic sour taste. Of course, the young little me couldn’t understand how the whole cooking thing works (and frankly, I still find cooking very confusing to this day) but I’ve always cherished those moments close to my heart.

INSTRUCTIONS (prep: 10 mins, cook: 1.5 hours)

SINIGANG BROTH

Sautee garlic and onion in a large stock pot until browned.

Boil the protein with salt and pepper.

Once it starts boiling, you’ll see foam-like white bubbles appear on top of the water. Removethe bubbles by scooping it out with a ladle or extra-fine mesh strainer.

Add sliced tomatoes, radish, string beans or other hard solid vegetables and the sour ingredient.

If using tamarind as the souring agent, boil it until soft.

Place the boiled tamarind in a strainer and press it down with a spoon or spatula to squeeze out the juice as needed.

Let the broth boil until meat is tender.

Once it’s almost fully cooked, the final vegetables to add are the kangkong and pechay. At this point it should be cooked at low heat or turned off completely and just the heat from the boiling soup cooks the vegetables.

Pour into a bowl and serve. The soup can be chilled or even frozen, and reheated to eat at a later time. Have the soup on its own, or have it with rice and other side dishes.

g protein (pork, shrimp or fish) g string beans eggplant daikon radish pack pechay (bok choy) bundle kangkong (water spinach) large tomatoes souring agent (such as tamarind, mangoes, guava, camias, artificial flavouring) (to taste) salt & pepper (to taste)

OPTIONAL GARNISH 3-5

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together on one big table, making my memories of it even dearer.

SINIGANG INGREDIENTS (ser ves 6) 500 300 1 1 1 1 2

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PHILIPPINES

green chili peppers (to taste)

FL AVOURS FROM HOME

Another dish that rivals sinigang as the Philippines’ national dish is adobo. Even though it’s argued as one of the dishes that was created during the Spaniard colonization, its evolution throughout the years and its role as a Filipino comfort food make it one, if not the most famous and recognizable Filipino dish.

Just like sinigang, adobo is easy to cook and can be prepared with three main ingredients: Meat, vinegar and soy sauce. Because every family´s adobo is different, it also offers a lot of variety, with my favourite

being chicken adobo. Unlike sinigang, where different ingredients are added at different times, almost all of the ingredients are poured at the same time for adobo. It is also cooked longer, testing your patience as its savoury smell fills your kitchen. Whenever I feel down, my family would often ask what I would like to eat and I would always answer adobo (aside from sinigang of course). With my preference for salty and savoury food, adobo just hits the right spot and lifts up my mood instantly. It’s one of those dishes where you can never go wrong. It is also one of the foods that take longer to spoil which is why I associate it with family outings and vacations, and the occasional power outage due to typhoons which are very common in the pacific, as my family would cook it during these occasions. Although the two are night and day in difference, both situations make our family closer and stronger, through the happier times and worrying ones.

INSTRUCTIONS (prep: 10 mins, cook: 1.5 hours)

ADOBO MEAT

Mince the garlic and chop the onion, then sautee them in a pan until golden. Add the meat and stir fry to cook evenly.

Once slightly browned, mix the soy sauce, vinegar and water, and pour the liquids into the pan.

Add the tbsp of brown sugar, stir the contents, and bring to a boil. Cook time will vary from 45 minutes to 1 ½ hour depending on the meat.

Add laurel and peppercorn, and optionally, add boiled eggs (cooked separately) if desired. Cook the contents on low heat until meat is tender.

Plate, garnish with green onions, and serve on its own or with rice and other side dishes.

g chicken or pork (any cuts) cup soy sauce cup vinegar tbsp brown sugar cup water onion (chopped) cloves garlic (minced) tbsp salt peppercorn laurel (bay leaf) (to preference)

I hope that one day, I’ll be able to learn how to cook Filipino meals the same way my family cooked them, and better yet, to one day go home to my home country and learn directly from my grandparents, whom I owe my happy childhood to.

Because my family and I here have different time zones from the ones in the Philippines, we would often call them when we eat lunch, which is around the time they eat dinner and the first question is always

ADOBO INGREDIENTS (ser ves 4) 750 1 1 1 1/2 1 3 1 2

“Have you eaten yet? what did you eat?”, to which the replies would be “yes I’ve eaten really well” or “today I ate a Filipino dish after trying to find the right vegetables in a new country” and we´ll automatically know how they are and what they did during the day.

“Today we ate menudo - oh, who celebrated their birthday today?” or “today we ate grilled tilapia and rice - oh then auntie’s fish business must be booming!”. I think it shows just how important food has become in our way of communicating with people and understanding them. Even though we live far from one another, we stay connected both to our family and our culture through food.

PORK ADOBO: DREAMSTIME DOLLYMJ

Unlike sinigang, where different ingredients are added at different times, almost all of the ingredients are poured at the same time for adobo. It is also cooked longer, testing your patience as its savoury smell fills your kitchen.

OTHER INGREDIENTS 4 2

hard-boiled eggs (peeled) green onion (scallions) (chopped)

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FL AVOURS FROM HOME

Tang Yuan Glutinous Rice Ball Dessert

BY SERAPHINA TSUI

CHINA

rice being the staple to accompany all the communal dishes, the meal cannot start.

Often, I had to help with preparing dinner or cooking rice before my parents got home. I’d be told to marinate the meat, chop some vegetables, and soak shiitake mushrooms. There’s a joke that many Asian Canadians can relate to forgetting to start the rice cooker because of the common struggle of having the rice measured, washed, and put into the rice cooker, but not actually pressing start. And of course, with

Through my experiences helping cook for my family, I gained interest in the kitchen, more particularly in baking. I really enjoyed Asian bakery cakes and other Asian desserts that are lighter and less sweet compared to Western desserts. They depend on eggs to add volume, making the cake fluffy and bouncy.

Likewise, instead of using frosting with a base of butter and sugar, many opt for whipped cream with a touch of sweetness. I began to learn more about Asian foods and cooking techniques while researching recipes I could try, such as the tangzhong method for making bread. I was frustrated to find that often, I would just find recipes with matcha, bubble tea, or mochi added to make it ‘Asian’, so I started to watch tutorials by aunties teaching authentic recipes in Cantonese or Mandarin. In this way, I improved my Chinese language skills at the same time as learning about the food. It was important to me to learn about the origins of the food and not just labelling the food Asian due to the associations of the ingredients in it. Nevertheless, I appreciate the fusions of incorporating traditionally Asian flavours such as pandan, matcha, taro, and black sesame into other foods.

INGREDIENTS (makes 12-18 tang yuan)

INSTRUCTIONS (prep: 1 hour, cook: 40 mins)

BL ACK SESAME FILLING

In a food processor or blender, finely grind the sesame seeds. Add the caster sugar and use a spatula to mix together in the food processor a bit.

Then add the butter and pulse for 10 seconds at a time until the mixture is well combined. Scoop everything out into a bowl and put in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

The purpose of this cooling process is to harden the mixture slightly for easy handling later.

While the filling is cooling, make the dough. Put the sweet rice flour into a mixing bowl. Slowly add in the warm water, while stirring to form a dough. The dough can’t be too wet, or it will not hold its shape. Cover with a damp towel.

Now boil some water in a small pot, take out a small piece of the dough, about 1 inch in diameter. Add it to the boiling water and cook the piece of dough until it floats. Scoop it out and add it to the rest of the dough. Mix the two parts together until the dough is soft and smooth.

Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (about 18 grams each, if you want to be really exacting), and roll them into

As a second-generation immigrant, I’ve been able to use food to connect with my Chinese heritage.

Like many children of immigrant parents, I was a latchkey kid while my parents worked long hours.

60 85 6

g roasted black sesame seeds g caster sugar (around 1/3 cup) tbsp butter (softened)

TANG YUAN DOUGH 1 1/2

cup glutinous rice flour cup warm water

DESSERT SOUP (OPTIONAL) 3-5 3-4 4 2/3

slices of ginger (to taste) tbsp rock sugar (to taste) cups hot water tsp osmanthus (some for garnish)

SUBSTITUTIONS (OPTIONAL) 6

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tbsp coconut oil (sub. butter)

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One of the desserts that I remember making with my family growing up was tang yuan, traditionally eaten at Chinese New Year. It is a dessert soup of soft, mochi-like balls of dough with a filling in the centre that becomes molten when cooked. We would wrap black sesame paste or sweet peanut filling into the glutinous rice flour dough together, making multiple trays of the little round spheres to boil.

When I moved away for university, I found that I was able to connect with my roommates through our culture and food. I had learned to cook meals through what I ate at home with my family growing up. Since we ate similar dishes and had similar cooking styles, our food preferences were very compatible. At the start of each term, we would wrap a big batch of dumplings together just like we each did at home with our families. At Chinese New Year and mid-autumn festival, we made special food to celebrate together, including making tang yuan. Being able to share food with each other and cook together brought a sense of belonging and culture. It reminded me of being at home cooking with my family. Additionally, we were able to learn about each others’ regional differences from customs in different parts of Asia.

balls. Keep the dough and dough balls covered with a damp paper towel while assembling. Take out the filling after it’s cooled for 30 minutes. It should be slightly hard, but still workable. Roll the filling into small marble-sized balls, about 4 to 5 grams each. Then take each dough ball and flatten into a circle about 2 inches in diameter.

Add the filling to the center, and close the dough over the filling. Roll the ball around in your hands until it’s smooth and round. Repeat until all the sesame balls are made. Cover the remaining filling and return to the refrigerator for later!

While you are assembling, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the sesame balls and stir immediately to prevent them from sticking. Adding the sesame balls will cool down the water temperature significantly, so once the water comes back up to a boil, add a 1/2 cup of water to the pot.

Repeat this step two more times. This cooking process will allow enough time for the sugar and butter to melt nicely into a smooth filling. Boil the ginger, rock sugar and osmanthus in hot water to make the dessert soup and serve.

TANGYUA N YUANXIAO : DREAMSTIME INSJOY

FL AVOURS FROM HOME

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FL AVOURS FROM HOME

Sweet & Sour Pork A Cantonese Family Favourite

BY PHOEBE WONG

“Sik Fan Lah!”, meaning it’s time to eat, is something that I grew up hearing whenever mommy’s done cooking.

SWEET AND SOUR PORK: DREAMSTIME MOSESSIN

Once I hear mommy screaming Sik Fan, I get up from whatever I was doing on my desk, run to the kitchen, and help set up the dining table for dinner. Made with all the love in mommy’s bones, food also symbolizes “home” for me. Dinner time is when everyone in

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the family get together, share about our day, while enjoying all the delicious food mommy made. I’m grateful that I grew up cherishing this time of the day, it makes me appreciate the warmth of home, the effort my mom puts into her cooking, and the timeless moments I share with my parents that’ll always have a special place in my heart.

Sweet and sour pork is one of my mom’s classic Chinese dishes. Whenever she cooks this dish, the aroma from the thick and caramelized sauce fills up the apartment. It’s not a challenging dish to make, but it requires a lot of patience as the more the sauce simmers and thickens, the better the dish tastes.

When I moved to Toronto for university, I often think about this familiar aroma when I’m homesick. It reminds me of my mom, my home in Vancouver and my heritage. Nothing beats the taste of home, and I’ll try my best to pass down my mom’s cooking to many future generations.

HONG KONG

INGREDIENTS (ser ves 4) 1 1 1 5 2 2 4 100

rack of spare ribs head of garlic slices of ginger tbsp brown sugar tbsp soy sauce tbsp shaoxing wine tbsp vegetable oil ml chinkiang vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS (prep: 15 mins, cook: 35 mins) Slice the ginger and garlic into small pieces. In a pan, brown ginger and garlic with vegetable oil. Sear the spare ribs on a pan. Splash shaoxing cooking wine onto the ribs, then add the vinegar, sugar and soy sauce, bring the ingredients to boil. Then turn down to low heat and simmer until the sauce is thickened and caramelized. Serve immediately with rice.

FL AVOURS FROM HOME

Thai Chili & Shrimp Dipping Sauce

me a person who is proud of being Thai.

BY FIRM KONGTHONG

Cooking Thai food is very hard to make in foreign countries like Canada because of the ingredients.

With some adaptation and limited imported goods, I can still make Thai recipes that are nostalgic to me and the ones that I am proud of. To be able to create fusion food with such small accessibilities is such an achievement for me. I love sharing my creation through social media and to my loved ones to show them that nothing can stop them from cooking incredible food, as long as you put love into them.

Food is the easiest way to connect to my culture since it is something I can taste and reminds me of “home.”

Even though I call Canada my second home, Thailand still holds a special place in my heart from all the memories I have with my family and friends. Eating Thai food that tastes or smells similar to recipes back in Thailand makes me feel nostalgic, which I’m sure we all love. It makes me think of my mom’s cooking, the street foods I get after school, the snacks I ate when it was break time in kindergarten, the candy store I used to run to every time we go on field trips, etc. Every little ingredient and portion of food makes

The recipe shifts from one place to another. It can come from an adaption from the environment, accessibilities, community etc. It ingrains once it brings a sense of community within a group of people together. The dish creates pride in cooking traditional food and transforming it into a part of the family’s heritage and culture. Dishes create joy by connecting people and creating communities that can adapt and maintain their culture’s survival.

Fusion food does not have the same definition to be the same for everyone, but instead, it is more about

INGREDIENTS (makes 1 bowl of sauce)

INSTRUCTIONS (prep: 10 mins, cook: 15 mins)

15-30 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 4 2

Pound and grind together the chilli, garlic, and shallot together until it is mixed together enough.

It is best to use a stone mortar and pestle to grind the paste by hand, but using a food processor can work as well.

Put in shrimp paste, palm sugar, and turkey berry, then pound and mix them all together until it is liquid.

Flavour it with fish sauce and lime juice. Add hot water in and mix the paste together until it is an even consistency.

Serve it with chosen vegetables, fried mackerel, and fried Thai-style omelette with Cha-om.

Thai chili tbsp garlic (minced) tbsp shallot (minced) tbsp Thai shrimp paste tbsp palm sugar tbsp turkey berry (mashed) tbsp fish sauce tbsp lime juice tbsp hot water fried mackerel fried Thai-style omelette with Cha-om vegetables of choice

the personal connection with the dish itself. Cooking makes me have the freedom to choose what dish I want to make and lets me be creative to recreate the dish I grew up eating. It makes me appreciate little small details to make the dish perfect in my way.

Another connection I do to grow closer to my culture and heritage is to share my food, whether with people with the same community or those who just want to appreciate the love.

My background in cooking is quite simple. I grew up helping my mother with cooking before my father came home from work. Since we did not have time, we often buy food, especially those that take longer time such as stew and soup, from local markets.

When I moved to Canada, my sister became in charge of cooking but she changed a lot of recipes with style inspired mostly by her Chinese friends. When I lived with her, we both did not have the time to cook so we mostly did stir-fry or anything that we can bake. After I moved out, I start exploring more into Thai fusion since I found out the cooking is a therapy for me. I try to bring my memories with some Thai food, with my mother’s and my sister’s cooking, into my cooking. I will try to perfect it in my memory as much as I could.

SOUTHERN THAI CUISINE: DREAMSTIME CHIRASAK TOLERTMONGKOL

Nam Prik Kapi

THAIL AND

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FL AVOURS FROM HOME

Zongzi

BY VANESSA ANN

For me, the one food that helps connect me to my heritage is Zongzi, which is a traditional Chinese rice dumpling, and it is also called bakcang in Indonesia.

Zongzi, or bakcang, is made of meat and glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. I have never made them myself, but my grandma sends them annually when it’s close to the date of the dragon boat festival.

My grandma makes these sticky rice dumplings and sends them to all of her children’s families! The one time she stayed with my family during the festival she taught my mom how to make it.

I’m quite detached from my Chinese heritage because it’s not something I participate in daily. I only really participate in it during Lunar New Year, so it’s a good reminder of who I am and where I come from!

INGREDIENTS (makes 12-15 zongzi)

INSTRUCTIONS (prep: 1 day, cook: 8 hours)

STICKY RICE

First, soak the leaves overnight. The next day, wash and rinse each leaf front and back, keeping them in a large bowl or tub of water until wrapping time so they don’t dry out.

Soak the uncooked glutinous rice overnight. The next day, drain completely. Mix the soaked, uncooked rice with 2 tablespoons light soy sauce and 2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl and set aside.

Soak the peanuts overnight. The next day, boil for 5 minutes, drain, and set aside.

In a bowl, toss the pork belly with 2 teaspoons light soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoons sugar, 2 teaspoons shaoxing wine, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and white pepper. Marinate overnight. The goal of this step is to make the pork belly slightly too salty, because the rice will absorb the excess salt, giving the zongzi its distinctive savory, umami flavor.

The next day, heat the oil in a wok over medium heat.

Cook the pork belly for a few minutes before adding the water. Cover the wok with the lid, and cook for 5-10 minutes until the liquid is gone. Remove from the wok and let cool.

Cut the egg yolks in half. Cut the sausages into 12 equal pieces. Set aside in separate bowls.

Wrap the zongzi by making a small cone and filling it with ingredients. Make sure to cut away at least half an inch off the bottom of every leaf you use. Make sure the

40 5 2 2 2/3 1 1/2 2 1/2 1 ½ 6 3

dried bamboo leaves (2-3/zongzi) cups uncooked short grain sticky (glutinous) rice tbsp light soy sauce (plus 2 tbsp) tsp salt (plus 1/2 tsp) cup raw peanuts lb pork belly (450g, cut into 12 equal pieces) tsp sugar tsp shaoxing wine tsp ground white pepper tsp oil cup water salted duck egg yolks Chinese sausages

OPTIONAL GARNISH 10 1 1 1

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roasted peanuts (crushed) tbsp light soy sauce (for dipping) tbsp chili oil (for dipping) tbsp red chili flakes

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RICE DUMPLING: DREAMSTIME SUCHARAT CHOUNYOO

Sticky Rice Dumplings (Bakcang)

INDONESIA

kitchen twine won’t break easily. It’s best to tie one end of the twine to an anchor point or kitchen fixture because you will only have one hand to tie the zongzi. If leaves rip during the wrapping process, you’ll need to start over and discard the ripped leaf. So, you should prepare more leaves than is technically needed. Some of the leaves are bound to rip.

To cook the zongzi, get a medium-sized pot and neatly nest the zongzi inside, avoiding large gaps. Put a large plate directly on top of the zongzi to weigh them down. Fill the pot with cold water, until the zongzi are submerged. Place the pot on the stove over medium high heat. Once the water boils, turn the heat to low/medium-low, and let it simmer for at least 7 to 8 hours.

The water should be “moving” while simmering, but there should be no large roiling bubbles. You must check the pot fairly often to make sure the zongzi are always submerged in water. Only add boiling water to adjust the water level—do not add room temperature or cold water. Keep a kettle of hot water on the stove so that you’re prepared throughout the 7 to 8 hour cooking time.

Once the 7to 8 hours is up, eat the zongzi while they’re hot! Savory zongzi are best when they’re freshly steamed.

CHINESE RICE DUMPLINGS: DREAMSTIME ANUTR TOSIRIKUL

FL AVOURS FROM HOME

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