Kee Chang(Alkaline Rice Dumpling)｜台湾灰汁巻き｜鹼粽

Rice Dumplings wrapped with bamboo leaves(also called Zongzi) is a must eat during Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan.

You would see piles of various kind of rice dumplings in the markets during this time of the period, and people make (now rather buying instead of making it) these seasonal delicacies to have it with the family on the day of the festival.

The most common rice dumpling is the one with pork inside, which is also the one that you see in some street vendors/stalls all year around, but there is only 1 kind that uses the fresh green bamboo leaves which you only see it from 1 week before the festival.

It is called Kee Chang in Taiwanese ho-lo language, and it is a small sized rice dumpling, served as a dessert. The weather is always hot during this period and a chilled Kee Chang covered with brown sugar was one of my favorite summer dessert.

Recipe:

Fresh Bamboo Leaves 30 pieces

Short Sticky Rice 150g

Soda Ash 3g

Hemp 1m

Brown Sugar

Making:

1. Rinse sticky rice for 3 times, and drain water(keep some water for absorbing, approx.50ml)

2. Add in soda ash and use a spoon to mix well (do not touch soda ash directly with your hands as it might be too strong!!)

3. Rest for 8 hours (can be put in the fridge during hot weather)

4. Take 2 pieces of bamboo leaves and brush on cooking oil to prevent cooked rice sticking with leaves.

5. Overlap half of the leaves to make a long one

6. Make a cone shape(start from 5cm away from the center in order to make a longer cover)

7. Put approx. 20g of soaked sticky rice in the cone (the amount would depend on the size of the leaves, but basically half filled in the cone with visual estimation)

8. Fold down the cover and make a pyramid shape. Make sure that there is space(half of the pyramid should be empty as the rice would grow 2 times bigger once cooked) inside.

9. Make hemp into 60cm long each.

10. Tie up the dumplings with hemp, make sure it is steady and not falling apart.

11. Boil in the water for 3 hours (lid on)

12. Hang up and let water drip, keep in the fridge for 8 hours so it gets cold and chewy

13. Sprinkle some brown sugar when serve.

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台湾の端午節の時期になると、町中はチマキだらけだ。色んな種類のチマキがあるが一番普通で、チマキを売ってる屋台に行くなら一年中食べれる豚肉の入ったチマキもあるが、その中にはこの時期にしか食べられない種類のチマキがある。台湾では鹼粽（キーツァン）といいますが、鹿児島の灰汁(あく)巻きにとても似ています。具なし、味付けなしのチマキに、香り高い黒糖をまぶして食べるのは、夏バテで食欲をなくした私の救いだった。新鮮な竹の葉の香りが上品でみずみずしいデザートが出来上がる。

鹼粽（台湾あくまき）のレシピ

生竹の葉 30枚

もち米 150グラム

粉状態の灰汁(あく) 3g

ヘンプ紐 1メートル

黒糖　　　適量

作り方:

1. もち米を3回くらい研ぎ、水を流す(水を完全に切るのではなく、米に吸水させるために大体50mlの水を残す)

2. 粉状態の灰汁を3グラム入れてスプーンでよく混ぜる(直接手で触る事を避ける)。重曹を使う場合は、3グラムよりもう少し入れるらしいです。

3. ８時間寝かす(室温が高い場合は蓋をして冷蔵庫で保存）

4. くっ付く事を防ぐよう、竹の葉にサラダオイルを塗る。

5. ２枚の葉を半分重ねて長い葉を作る

6. 真ん中から少しずらして円錐型を作る

7. 寝かした米を出し、およそ20グラムの米を円錐型に入れる(入れる量は葉の大きさによりますが、もち米が出来上がると2倍くらいの大きさになるので目測で円錐型の半分くらい埋まったら良いという事です)

8. 円錐型から余った分の葉を、蓋を作るように折り、三角錐を作る。中には半分が空であるとしてください。

9. 紐を60センチごとに切る

10. 紐でチマキを回して結ぶ

11. 蓋して水で３時間茹でる

12. 取り出したら水分を切り、もちもちの食感そして完全に冷やすために冷蔵庫に８時間入れる。

13. 黒糖をつけて食べる