端午娘惹肉粽 Nyonya Bak Chang for Dragon Boat Festival 🐲🐉🇲🇾🇸🇬

Sticky rice dumplings (also known as 粽子 zòngzi in Mandarin, 糉 zung2 in Cantonese, 粽 tsung in Hakka, 肉粽 “bak chang” in Hokkien and Teochew) are the most important and significant food for Dragon Boat Festival (端午節 “Duǎn Wǔ Jié” in Mandarin, “Tuen1 Ng5 Jit3” in Cantonese, 五月節 “Ng Ngiét Chiet” in Hakka). Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month based on the lunar calendar. Going back to the Warring State period (475-221 BCE), this festival remembers the tragic suicide of the poet Qu Yuan by drowning himself in the Miluo River. The reason for his suicide was due to the fact that Chu kingdom (Qu Yuan’s kingdom) was captured by the powerful Qin kingdom. Many people admired him and were deeply saddened by this tragedy. How did zongzi become the traditional food for Dragon Boat Festival? It is believed that these people threw glutinous rice balls into the river to scare the fishes away and not to eat the poet’s body. In this episode I am sharing with you how to make a very particular type of sticky rice dumpling. I am talking about the Nyonya Bak Chang which is very unique to the Baba Nyonya (or Peranakan) people in Malaysia and Singapore. Baba Nyonya people are the descendants of the first Chinese immigrants from the 18th century who came from Fujian province and married local Malay women. Peranakan people are famous for their unique culture and cooking which consists of a blend of Chinese, Malay and sometimes Indian and Portuguese elements. I think these Nyonya Bak Chang are a perfect example which combines both Malay and Chinese flavours into a single sweet and savoury delight! Happy Dragon Boat Festival! 端午節快樂! 🐲🐉 #端午 #端午節 #端午节 #端午节安康 #端午安康 #端午節快樂 #dragonboat #dragonboatfestival #asianfood #malaysianfood #singaporeanfood #nyonya #nyonyafood #peranakan #makan #makanan #makananmalaysia