OK... No laughing... For my first attempt I think I did ok...
Friday night
I began prepping... I sliced up and marinated the pork belly, soaked the bamboo leaves, soaked the dried mushrooms and shrimp, and soaked the sticky rice. Yep... a lot of soaking going on...
Bamboo Leaves soaking
Mushrooms and Shrimps soaked
Saturday morning at 7:30 am
I started a large pot of boiling water with vinegar, and started boiling the soaked bamboo leaves for 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, I started cooking the marinated pork belly slices...
Hmmm... Pork...
Sliced the salted duck egg yolks...
Hmmm.... Duck Eggs...
Seasoned the soaked rice...
Hmmm... Rice.....
Opened a package of cooked chestnuts (yeah... cheated a little)
Then, I started wrapping. Now the package is supposed to be triangular in shape... As you can see mine was not really triangular... It is more rectangular. But this is hard!!
My first joong (that's what this is called)...
After wrapping, we boil these suckers for about 2 hours, drain them and let cool for a while. You can freeze them for months, or refrigerate for a week. The finished product:
I have a pic of the inside, but it is fuzzy in my haste to eat them. For my first try, it was ok. But I will probably try this again in cooler weather... =)
I used the recipe below (I altered it a little) and the wrapping instructions are
here.
[Ingredients]
40 - 60 pieces dried bamboo leaves
20 - 30 strings for tying
For Rice:
1 kg glutinous rice
4 - 5 tablespoons peanut oil
2 -3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons (mushroom flavoured) dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
For Pork Filling:
600g belly pork
4 tablespoons peanut oil
Seasoning for pork:
2 -3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon (mushroom flavoured) dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
For Other Filling:
50g (or more) dried shrimps
6 (or more) dried Chinese mushrooms
chestnuts
[Preparation]
First Night:
1. Slice belly pork (into about 40 - 60 bite-size slices) and marinate with seasoning. Cover and put into the refrigerator overnight.
2. Soak dried shrimps and mushrooms in enough water to cover overnight.
3. Wash glutinous rice then add any remaining soaking liquid from soaking shrimps and mushrooms. Top up with sufficient water to cover and soak overnight.
4. Separate bamboo leaves and soak in enough water to cover overnight. Use something heavy (a mortar bowl for example) to press down if necessary.
Second Day:
1. For the pork: Peel and mince garlic. Peel and slice shallots. Heat 4 tablespoons peanut oil in a wok, sauté minced garlic until light golden brown in colour. Add drained belly pork (reserve marinade) and stir-fry for a few minutes until colour changes. Add marinade, cover the wok with lid and let steam for a couple of minutes until the pork is cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Remove to a container and let cool. Cover and put into the refrigerator until ready to be used.
2. Drain glutinous rice. Mince garlic. Heat peanut oil and sauté minced garlic briefly. Add rice and seasoning, taste and adjust if necessary – seasoning should be a bit saltier than normal because boiling the dumplings later will dilute the saltiness. Stir-fry over moderate heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Wash soaked bamboo leaves (wear kitchen glove to prevent cutting yourself, I use a soft brush to scrub each leaf clean) and drip dry in a large colander. Trim off stiff stalk ends. Boil for 5-10 minutes in a big pot with water and ½ cup of vinegar. Drain.
4. Start boiling water in a large pot for cooking rice dumplings.
5. For each dumpling, shape 2 bamboo leaves like a cone, put in some rice, pressing some along the sides. Add 2 - 3 slices pork, 2 - 3 slices mushrooms, some shrimps and 1 - 2 chestnut(s) in the centre. Cover with more rice. Wrap up into a four-point triangle and bind securely with string.
6. Boil for 2 hours, then drain.