{"id":4585,"date":"2026-06-05T13:07:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T13:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/?p=4585"},"modified":"2026-06-05T13:13:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T13:13:37","slug":"delectably-wrapped-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/delectably-wrapped-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Delectably Wrapped \u2013 Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Baba Ong Jin Teong explores the evolution and varieties of the glutinous rice dumpling or chang.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In this second part of Delectably Wrapped, we explore the regional or dialect variations of chang<\/em>. Our readers may wish to access Part 1 at this link<\/a>. Part 3 will be available by mid-June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

1 – Interesting Chinese Regional Variations\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the China Daily, Jiaxing zongzi from the Southeastern Chinese province of Zhejiang is the most sought-after kind of zongzi on the Chinese mainland during the Dragon Boat Festival<\/a>. Jiaxing zongzi is associated with the Southern regional zongzi which has savoury fillings, including marinated meat. Sometimes, it is also filled with sweet bean paste, lotus seed, longan fruit or peanut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Xi\u2019an zongzi has the longest history and hails from the central Chinese city of Xi’an. It is made with glutinous rice without filling, soaked in honey and is often sliced into thin pieces and served chilled with osmanthus syrup, creating a refreshing dessert. According to ancient records, it is described as having a gorgeous jade-like appearance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smallest zongzi in China is reputedly sold in Shanghai. Each of these miniature zongzi including four cubes of ham weighs just 50g! Nanning zongzi is famous for its large size and rich fillings,<\/strong> making it one of the most distinctive zongzi varieties in China. Often referred to as “pillow zongzi”, <\/strong>each dumpling can weigh around one kilogram!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hokkien braised pork bak chang is considered the most global zongzi since there is a large Hokkien diaspora in Southeast Asia, in Taiwan and in the USA. Hangzhou zongzi is the most romantic zongzi. It comes from Tangxi, an ancient town in Hangzhou in East China’s Zhejiang province. This zongzi is gendered! The male and female zongzi are wrapped differently and the fillings are not the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
Left: Hokkien bak chang filling
Right: Some ingredients for bak chang filling <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

2 \u2013 Variations Among Chinese Dialect Groups in Malaysia\/Singapore<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hokkien Bak Chang<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hokkien version is called kiam chang (kiam means salty). The filling for kiam chang includes meat (traditionally pork), dried prawns, chestnuts, salted egg yolk, lotus seeds and Chinese mushrooms. The ingredients are cooked with dark soya sauce and five spice powder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This recipe is one of several recipes that I learned from my wife\u2019s Jee Chim<\/em>. It is a bit different from others in that red beans are used in the recipe \u2013 a Teochew practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The red beans, the dried shelled chestnut and the glutinous rice are washed and soaked in water for about 4 hours. The chestnut is then boiled for about 20 minutes. Two important ingredients are five-spice powder and onions or shallots which are finely sliced and fried till golden brown when it has caramelised. Half the caramelised onion is fried in the oil with five spiced powder and the glutinous rice. The other half of the deep-fried onion and the five-spice powder is used with the other ingredients to prepare the bak chang filling, The thick dark sauce of the bak chang filling will seep into the glutinous rice when it is being boiled giving the Hokkien bak chang its characteristically brown colour. The caramelised onions and the oil in which it was fried, together with the five-spice powder give the bak chang its unique flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teochew Chang <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teochew chang is similar to the Hokkien chang but often featuring a sweet red bean or lotus paste. I have seen many references to Teochew bak chang that includes in its filling red bean paste wrapped in caul fat but I have not had the opportunity to taste this unique blend of sweet and savoury flavours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cantonese Chang <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cantonese chang includes mung bean which gives it a distinct texture and a lighter flavour. The ingredients for the filling are similar to that for Hokkien chang and could include Jinhua ham, abalone and dried scallop, especially for up-market versions. Five spice powder is commonly used to marinate the belly pork filling but not with the glutinous rice. The rice is flavoured with garlic and a little salt instead. The chang is wrapped in a large rectangular parcel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Penang we are more familiar with the hawker version called \u2018hum yoke choong\u2019. The filling in this affordable chang has mung beans and a piece of fat marinated with five spice powder. A more expensive version has streaky pork and some salted egg yolk. The chang is boiled till the fat becomes transparent and jelly-like, permeating the surrounding rice and mung beans.  It is the fat and the five-spice powder that give \u2018hum yoke choong\u2019 its distinctive taste and flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Lo mai kai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Lo Mai Kai<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lo mai kai is a classic Cantonese dim sum dish featuring glutinous rice steamed with chicken, Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms, and sometimes dried scallops or salted egg yolk. The chicken is seasoned with soya sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, and sesame oil. It is wrapped in lotus leaves. It is especially popular in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hakka<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is similar to the Cantonese chang. The main difference is that black eyed peas are used instead of green mung beans. The other ingredients are pork, salted egg yolk and mushrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hainanese Chang<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This variety is different as the glutinous rice is wrapped with banana leaves and shaped like a large pillow. It is larger in size compared with chang from the other dialect groups. The ingredients include marinated pork belly, dried shrimps, Chinese sausage, mushrooms, chestnuts, mung beans and black eye beans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
Left: Peranakan chang bought from a food market in Singapore
Right: Giant pandan leaves used for wrapping<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3 – Nyonya Chang (North vs South Peranakan)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Peranakan community has developed its own unique version of chang, known as Nyonya chang. This is a variant of the savoury bak chang. It is called pua kiam tnee chang in Penang and that name offers a clue to their differences. Pua kiam tnee in Hokkien means \u201chalf salty and sweet\u201d. The sweetness is from the chopped-up tung kwa or candied winter melon which is added to the dumpling\u2019s filling. The meat is either minced or diced instead of being cut into the larger pieces as compared to bak chang. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nyonya chang has a distinctive aroma from the short length of pandan leaf used to line the bamboo-leaf wrapping of the dumpling in Penang. In Singapore, the leaves of the giant pandanus plant are often used to wrap Nyonya chang instead of, or with bamboo leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
Left: Some Ingredients used in pua kiam tee filling
Right: Penang pua kiam tee filling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The ingredients of ground coriander, ground pepper, garlic and shallots add spice to the Nyonya chang. Many Southern Nyonya recipes include dried mushroom which is also used in bak chang. What distinguishes the Northern Nyonya dumpling from the Southern version is the addition ofpounded groundnuts and cekur roots or kencur (also known as lesser galangal). The spices used for pua kiam thnee chang are similar to that used for rempah udang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Singapore and the South, the raw glutinous rice is boiled after wrapping or else steamed till partially cooked before wrapping and then boiled afterwards. In Penang and in the North, the glutinous rice is steamed first, then mixed with santan and steamed again before it is used to wrap the filling. The chang is finally steamed before serving. In recent times some families have stopped adding santan to the glutinous rice to simplify the preparation process and to increase the shelf-life of the pua kiam thnee chang. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Penang pua kiam thnee chang (white)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pua kiam thnee dumplings from Northern Malaya tend to be smaller, whereas those from the South, especially from Singapore, are much larger. The probable reason is that it takes a shorter time to properly steam if it is smaller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is quite a common practice for the Nyonyas in the South to partially colour their dumpling blue using the colour extracted from the bunga telang (butterfly pea flower). This is not the practice in Penang. Some Nyonyas in the North follow this practice only because they have relatives from Malacca.  Recently, it has become fashionable to colour rice blue partly because bunga telang is now readily available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above Penang recipe for pua kiam thnee chang is based on the one used by my aunties. The filling includes cekur and pounded groundnuts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

4 – Local Chang and ASEAN Variants<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that the ketupat that is served with satay,<\/em> and lontong that is served with lodeh will not be discussed further in the rest of this article since they are made of rice and not glutinous rice. Both are forms of compressed rice made by boiling uncooked rice wrapped in coconut leaf or in a confined cylindrical tube. Lontong and lodeh are rare in Penang but common in Singapore. Ketupat palas most probably evolved from the traditional ketupat but uses glutinous rice instead of ordinary rice. Ketupat palas has its roots in Malay culinary traditions, particularly in northern Malaysia. It is closely associated with festive celebrations like Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Aidiladha. In Penang, it is a common snack made and eaten by both the Malays and Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
Left: Ketupat palas (Malai choong)
Right: Male and female ketupat palas\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ketupat palas, also known as malai choong (Malay chang in Penang Hokkien dialect) is made of glutinous rice. The glutinous rice is partially cooked with santan, mixed with various fillings and then wrapped with the leaves of the palas palm into a triangular shape. Many of our readers may not be aware that there are ketupat palas jantan (male) and ketupat betina (female); they are woven differently \u2013 the female weave is symmetrical from a front and back view – as if the ketupat is wearing a sarong! The ketupat palas sold commercially are the male variety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more common filling is the black-eye beans. Other fillings are sweet corn and pulut hitam (black glutinous rice. Ketupat biasa does not have any filling. The Thais have khao tom sam liap, also known as khanom khao tom. These have a filling of spiced chicken meat-floss and salted duck egg yolk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For further reading, see: https:\/\/www.hungryonion.org\/t\/rice-dumplings-thai-khao-tom-sam-liap-versus-malay-ketupat-palas\/39241<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out the various types of ketupat found in Malaysia here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Did You Know That There Are Various Types Of Ketupat In Malaysia? Here Are 5 Of Them<\/a><\/blockquote>