Dumplings galore and kaya (碱水粽, 娘惹粽, 咖椰）

It's Dumpling Festival again this Wednesday. Nowadays, there are dumplings with a variety of flavours with some really exotic ones. I have never tried those innovative creations and still prefer the traditional type. As my dad is a Baba, I would consider myself a half nonya. From young, I have grown up eating nonya dumplings made by my mum and somehow or other, I cannot accustomed myself to accept other types of dumplings. But I like the teochew style dumplings which my maternal grandmother used to make. The teochew dumplings encase ingredients like pork, chestnuts, mushrooms and most importantly, tau sar. However, ever since my grandmother passed away many years back, I rarely have the chance to savour the teochew dumplings again.

One other must have in my family is 'kee chang'. It is healthier and does not contain any traces of oil. For me, 'kee chang' goes really well with kaya and I cannot do without kaya if I were to eat 'kee chang'. Without kaya, I would rather not eat 'kee chang' at all! That's how fussy I am with my affair with 'kee chang'. I must confess that I do not know how to make nonya dumplings and kee chang. It was always my mum who does the frying of ingredients, preparation and wrapping. I am just her assistant for such occasions, helping with washing of leaves and cutting ingredients. I started learning the wrapping skill about 3 years back. Now, I have been promoted (by myself) from just helping with the cutting to wrapping the dumplings. So knowing that my mum will be making the dumplings this weekend, I decided to make my kaya to accompany my kee chang. Making kaya is a tedious task which requires patience, stamina (to keep stirring constantly for an hour or more) and the sheer love of it. The irony is, I am not a great fan of kaya. The only time I can't do without it is when eating 'kee chang'. Weird, isn't it?

These are the 'kee changs'

And nonya dumplings

Mantou

Mantou is just like plain bao without any filling. Like bread, it tastes good if you spread jam or peanut butter on it. But I like it just plain so that I can taste the aroma of fermented dough. These mantous are made using the same recipe as the one I used for making the porcupine baos some time back.

Black Ku Kueh (with saltish bean paste)

As mentioned in my previous post, I love ang ku kueh with saltish bean paste. Normally, these kuehs come with black skin instead of the traditional red. I still have some bean paste left after making my previous batch of ang ku kuehs. So today, I decided to go for the saltish version. After mixing the skin dough, I was worried that the colour was too pale. Luckily, after steaming, the colour deepened and viola, I got the colour I wanted and the 'black ku kueh'.

Steamed buns (小兔子刺猬包)

I shaped these steamed baos into rabbits and porcupines. I guess my shaping skills still need sharpening as some of these baos look out of shape. Nevertheless, they taste good.































300g Hong Kong flour
11/2tsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp yeast
60g sugar
125ml water
1tbsp shortening
Filling: red bean paste/lotus paste (divide into balls of 30g each)

1. Mix all ingredients in a mixer and knead till smooth. Let dough rise for 1 hour or double in bulk.
2. Divide dough into equal pieces of 40-50g each (depending on how big you want your baos to be).
3. Enclose dough with red bean or lotus paste. Shape baos into oval shape. Snip ears and tails for rabbits. Make tiny snips on the dough to make the needles on the porcupine's body.
4. Let bao prove for about 25 mins
5. Steam for about 10-15 mins over rapidly boiling water.
6. Dip tip of chopstick into red colouring and dot on the bao to resemble the eyes.