Bak Chang/ Zhong Zi (Rice Dumplings)

The Lowdown:

To give you the best recommendations for the shiokest (best tasting) bak chang, seven makanmatas had to "suffer" the ordeal of tasting close to 12 types of bak chang in one afternoon to give you this Taste Report--just in time for the Duan Wu Jie/Rice Dumpling Festival on 18 June 1999. Everyone went home with a bloated tummy from all those glutinous rice but fulfilled their calling as makanmatas to give you their verdict.

Type of Food:
 Bak Chang/ Zhong Zi (Rice Dumplings)
Where From:
 Pine Court at The Mandarin Singapore
Xin Cuisine at Concorde Hotel
Hua Ting at the Orchard Hotel
Kim Choo Kueh Chang
Hiong Kee Dumplings
Hoo Kee Rice Dumplings
Test date:
 5 June 1999

 
Pine Court

Wo Zhen Zhong

"Die, die must try!"

 

The Wo Zhen Zhong or the Hong Kong Glutinous Rice Dumpling ($10) from Pine Court has the thumbs up--3-chopsticks--"die, die must try"! Huge and substantial enough for 2--this comes wrapped with yellow beans, lotus seeds, pork, salted egg and chestnuts. If you like yellow beans, you'll die for this bak chang. The rice is practically drenched with yellow beans--every bite has beans in it. Though it's a savoury chang, the combination of beans, lotus seeds and chestnuts add some sweetness to the taste. The bite is crunchy and soft at the same time. Reene says:" It just melts in your mouth!"

The XO Meat Dumpling is a little spicy due to the hae bee hiam (spicy dried prawn paste) but overall the taste is quite flat. The Shanghai Meat Dumpling is a waste of our stomach space--just sticky rice with two pieces of fat meat. Maybe the Northern Chinese dumpling is just not the Singaporeans' cup of tea.

 
Xin Cuisine

Sharksfin Dumpling Supreme

Excellent!

Lotus Paste and Ginkgo Nut Dumpling

"Die, die must try!"

Xin Cuisine offers three types of bak chang. The novel one is the Crocodile Meat Dumpling but that's where it stops--just a novel idea but not the taste. It's simply very dried crocodile meat mixed with the usual ingredients, you wouldn't even know that you're eating crocodile meat unless told.

The Sharksfin Dumpling Supreme ($10.80) is more interesting. It's filled with big chestnuts, a long piece of Chinese sausage, beans and roast duck. The sharksfin is a garnish on the top of the bak chang. The blend of the ingredients with the rice makes it very tasty, and the makanmatas feel that roast duck adds a different sweet taste to the dumpling. Nancy feels that: " If the sharksfin garnish makes it expensive, I'd rather not have the sharksfin as it doesn't add to the taste at all, the dumpling is good eaten on its own." So, the rating for this?- a 2-chopsticks of "Excellent".

What makes our mouths water is another "die, die must try" Lotus Paste and Ginkgo Nut Dumpling ($4.80) from Xin Cuisine. Never mind if you skip the Sharksfin Dumpling, but you have to try this because it's super delicious! This is kee chang filled with a smooth lotus paste and soft ginkgo nuts. A must try for the sweet tooth.

 
Hua Ting Wo Zhen Zhong

Excellent! 		Hua Ting's offers the Wo Zhen Zhong or the Hong Kong Glutinous Rice Dumpling ($9) too. May, another makanmata, notes that the yellow beans are lightly fried unlike the boiled ones from Pine Court--the frying makes the beans a little crunchier. But, it doesn't have as much yellow beans as Pine Court's. If you are not too keen on beans, this will be a better choice. The meat is tender and it has dried scallops besides the usual ingredients. A 2-chopsticks rating of "Excellent" is assigned. The Red Bean Dumpling is not as exciting as the lotus one from Xin though the kee chang is made really smooth.

 

 

 

 
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