Rendang Ayam Nasi Kunyit Dumplings (仁当鸡肉粽） - Guai Shu Shu (2024)

INTRODUCTION

This is my last dumpling recipe for the year and I shall continue sharing more recipe next year. This is a dumpling of my own creation with the intention of designing a halal dumplings for those who can’t take pork. The first thing that come to my mind is this rendang dumpling and rendang pairs very well with nasi kunyit or turmeric glutinous rice.

I have both recipes of rendang and nasi kunyit and if you are interested, you can take a look for both post as follows: A Dish That Existed In The 15th Century Or Earlier?–Rendang Ayam (马来仁当鸡）

However, for this illustration, I did not prepare my own spice mix or rempah and I have bought the ready made premix. This will expedite the entire process and of course if readers want to prepare from scratch , you can always used the recipe above by clicking the pictures. Subsequent to the preparation of the rendang chicken, there are additional steps needed to transform it into the dumpling fillings. It does make sense that house chef cooked more rendang the night before and leave some for dumpling wrapping. This will help to develop the flavour for the meat floss.

The nasi kunyit is in this post: Auspicious Turmeric Glutinous Rice aka Nasi Kunyit Pulut (姜黄糯米饭）and I have used part of these cooked glutinous rice for the wrapping. After wrapping, I recommended the steaming method which is much faster.

However, I have include a section in the recipe using raw rice method. The cooked rice method will help house chefs who are new to dumpling wrapping and the experienced house chefs may be more prone to using raw rice method. I have tried both method and whatever method being used, the output shall be the same: a delicious Nasi Kunyit rendang dumpling.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 20-30 dumplings depending on size

Fillings

• 1 small bottle or package of rendang premix (for one chicken or less)
• 1 debone chicken or about 4 debone chicken drumsticks cut into big pieces
• 1 package of coconut milk (about 200 ml)
• 100 grams of stir fried coconut (kerisik) or fresh shredded coconut
• Sugar to taste
• Salt to taste
• 4-5 pieces of kaffir lime leaves

Nasi Kunyit portion

• 500 grams of glutinous rice
• 1 tablespoon of serbuk kunyit or turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoons of lime juice
• 200 grams or ml of coconut milk or 1 small packet of coconut milk
• 20 white or black peppercorns (optional)
• Pinches of salt to taste

Nasi Lemak portion

• 500 grams of glutinous rice
• 200 grams or ml of coconut milk or 1 small packet of coconut milk
• Pinches of salt to taste

Nasi Lemak portion can be wholly substituted with nasi kunyit portion if you do not want to create a contrast, meaning prepare 1kg of nasi kunyit instead of half half

Others:

• At least 60 bamboo leaves (soaked and washed),
• At least 30 reed strings or cotton string or plastic strings

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Filling Preparation

• If you plan to cook the rendang chicken from scratch, please refer to this post: A Dish That Existed In The 15th Century Or Earlier?–Rendang Ayam (马来仁当鸡）

• The above fillings ingredients is for your reference, it is also important that you follow the instruction as stated in the package or bottle. Every package or bottle comes with a clear instruction as to what need to be added.

• Stir fry the chicken with rendang premix until well mix. Add the coconut milk and the lime leaves and bring to boil under high heat. Once it boils, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer until the meat is soft and dry. If the meat is not soft but dries up to fast, add more water or coconut milk. Overall, it shall need at least 30 – 45 minutes to the desired texture.

• Once the meat is soft, add the kerisik or fresh shredded coconut, stir until well combined. Add seasonings (salt and sugar) before dishing out. Please not that as this is to be eaten with Nasi Kunyit, therefore the seasoning has to be higher handed. I prefer my dumplings to be sweet based, therefore I have added 3 tablespoon of sugar but this is very personal. You can always adjust the sweetness to your liking.

• Once the meat is slightly cooled, transfer the meat to a food processor, blend the meat until fine. Transfer the blended meat to the non stick work, continue to stir fry until it is dry. The drier it is, the better it is easier to wrap the dumplings.

• Once the meat is ready, transfer the meat floss to a bowl with a sieve at the bottom. Let the oil drip out from the filling and if necessary, press the meat floss and squeeze out the oil.

• The filling is best be prepared on the night before the wrapping. Let it rest one night for flavour to develop. Chill it to facilitate the wrapping.

Rice Preparation

• Note if you are using the cooked rice method, you can either use the rice cooker or follow steaming method as in this post: Auspicious Turmeric Glutinous Rice aka Nasi Kunyit Pulut (姜黄糯米饭）. What will be detailed below is the raw rice method.

• Wash the glutinous rice, add the turmeric powder and water at least 1 inches above the glutinous rice and let it soak for at least 5 hours or preferably overnight. Perform the same for the other 500 grams of nasi lemak white colour portion of the glutinous rice.

• Heat up a wok and transfer the soaked turmeric glutinous rice to the wok, add the coconut milk (and pandan leaves if desired) pinches of salt, lemon juice and stir fry until it starts to dries up. Note that the rice is not cooked at this junction. This step only helps to incorporate the coconut milk and make the rice slightly sticky such that it is easier to cook. Perform the same for the other 500 grams of nasi lemak white colour portion of the glutinous rice. Dish up and set aside. For this step, during the frying, if you preferred, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil to enhance the fragrance and texture.

Wrapping and Steaming of cooking – COOKED RICE METHOD

• Prior to the wrapping, you should have the following ready, glutinous rice, bamboo leaves, strings and fillings. If preferred you can get ready additional kafir lime leaves for the wrapping but it is optional.

• Take some cooked rice, roll it flat to about 2 mm thickness. Cut some into a triangular shape and another one a circle shape.

• Take two bamboo leaves and make it in a shape of a cone. stuff the triangular shape cut rice into the cone. Filled it with fillings and use a tablespoon to press the filling tight. Put the round shape cut rice on top of the filling. Seal the edges of between the triangular and round shape cut rice.

• Press the tail of the bamboo leaves to cover the top portion and shape the tail like a swallow tail. Twist it side wards to follow the shape of the Chang. By now, your Chang should be in triangular shape and you should be able to hold the Chang in one hand. Take a string and loop around the Chang tie using a live knot. tie it firm and if you find that Chang are not really in the shape you want, try to adjust it now. Loosen the string or adjust the bamboo leaves to shape it to the desired shape. After wrapping, cut off the excess leaves and check that there are no holes resulted from rough handling.

• When enough number of dumplings is ready, heat up some water and steam the dumplings for 15-20 minutes .

• You can also refer to the special video below shot for the purpose of assisting house chefs new to rice dumpling wrapping.

Wrapping and Steaming of cooking – RAW RICE METHOD

• Take two bamboo leaves and make it in a shape of a cone. Put one tablespoon of turmeric rice. Put 1-2 tablespoons full of rendang fillings. Press hard and put another tablespoon of nasi lemak or coconut rice. Use the tablespoon to press down firm and level it. Press the tail of the bamboo leaves to cover the top portion and shape the tail like a swallow tail. Twist it side wards to follow the shape of the Chang. By now, your Chang should be in triangular shape and you should be able to hold the Chang in one hand.

• Take a string and loop around the Chang tie using a live knot. tie it firm and if you find that Chang are not really in the shape you want, try to adjust it now. Loosen the string or adjust the bamboo leaves to shape it to the desired shape. After wrapping, cut off the excess leaves and check that there are no holes resulted from rough handling and there are small areas that are not covered with the leaves. These are “loopholes”that will create problems for you. If you boiled it , the rice will flow out (not all of course) and all the seasonings will be diluted with the water. The Chang boiling water will also become sticky. JUST ENSURE THAT THERE ARE NO HOLES IN THE CHANG.

• When enough number of Chang are ready for boiling. boil some hot water. Put the wrapped Chang in the pressure cooker. Add in the hot water. Close the lid and boil using the pressure cooker for about 30-45 minutes. After 30-45 minutes, release the pressure, take out one Chang immediately and open and see if it is already to the texture that you want. If not, continue to pressure cook for another 10 minutes. Add more hot water if desired.

CONCLUSION

This is a long post and I hoped this recipe will benefit readers who are looking for halal Chang. Making Chang is a tedious process and writing the recipe is not easy either. Hope readers can get some inspiration from this post and come out your own version of Chang.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have nice day. Should there be any imperfections in my blog layout, bear with me and I am trying hard to rectify it. In the event that you are a follower of Guaishushu at http://kwgls.wordpress.com, please do follow this new blog Guaishushu1 at https://www.guaishushu1.com.

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