The Yat (One) And Only Journey…

Glutinous Rice Dumpling aka Ham Yuk Chung For Dragon Boat Festival

Okay I have no idea what Dragon Boat Festival is and all I know is there is a Dragon Boat Festival/Competition going on at Putrajaya every year..

Little did I know this Dragon Boat Festival thingy is actually related to the Tuen Ng Jit (???) and of course zongzi, the “rice dumpling festival”..

For all I can remember there’s no publicity on anywhere on printed media, online media, social media, or any kind of media..

Suddenly in 2010 everyone and everywhere is talking bout Dragon Boat Festival and indirectly linking it with “rice dumpling festival”, instead of the Dragon Boat Festival in Putrajaya

Anyway, back to glutinous rice dumpling (ham yuk chung)..Found a pack of ham yuk chung in the fridge and I’ve decided to steam it for supper..

*Glutinous rice dumpling aka ham yuk chung*

For someone with big appetite like me, one dumpling is never enough..As the saying goes, two is better than one

*Drop it like it’s hot*

Instead of really steaming the dumplings, boiling them in the hot-boiling water is more efficient than steam..

Steam is a bit waste of time for a quick supper and boiling a nicely wrapped ham yuk chung is never a problem..It doubles or even triples to speed!

One might thought that water might get inside or the leaves might fall off and all but rest assure that it’s very safe to boil the dumplings..

*Hot-boiled glutinous rice dumpling*

Boil for about 10-minutes (or any time depend on your preference), poke with chopsticks to check if it’s good to eat..

Once you have opened the leaves, you can’t throw it back into the pot of boiling water because it will ruin your dumpling..

Take one out at a time so that you can reheat or keep the second one hot if your first dumpling isn’t hot enough..

By the way, turn off or lower down the level of the stove when you are eating the first one..Save gas!

A home made glutinous rice dumpling is always good because of the generous amount of fillings..This one was done by my sister’s boyfriend’s mom..

Instead of the usual pork meat and lard and mushrooms, generous amount of chicken meat and floss and lots of shrimps is used..It’s pretty good too..

Now when you’ve finished the first one, second dumpling is still hot when you take it out from the hot-boiling water..

Here’s a bit of Dragon Boat Festival facts from Wiki..

Tuen Ng commemorates the life and death of the famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan..He was a loyal minister serving the King of Chu during the Warring States Period in the third century BCE..

Initially his sovereign favored Qu Yuan, but over time, his wisdom and erudite ways antagonized other court officials..

As a result Qu Yuan was accused of trumped-up charges of conspiracy and ejected by his sovereign..During his exile, Qu Yuan composed many poems to express his anger and sorrow towards his sovereign and people..

In the year 278 BCE, at the age of 37, Qu Yuan, drowned himself in the Milo River..He clasped a heavy stone to his chest and leaped into the water..

Knowing that Qu Yuan was a righteous man, the people of Chu rushed to the river to try to save him..The people desperately searched the waters in their boats looking for Qu Yuan but were unsuccessful in their attempt to rescue him..

Every year the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated to commemorate this attempt at rescuing Qu Yuan..

When it was known that Qu Yuan had been lost forever, the local people began the tradition of throwing sacrificial cooked rice into the river for their lost hero..

Here’s the full page of Duanwu Festival (Tuen Ng Jit)..

Have a great ham yuk chung everyone!

Posted under: Eats