FOOCHOW PEANUT DUMPLING

It is the time of the year again

5th Day of the 5th month of the Lunar calendar

Duan Wu Zei

or

Zhongzi Zei as many prefer to call it


There is a story behind it, as Ellie Lee puts it:

Foochows 

make their rice dumpling with 2 simple ingredients,

glutinous rice & peanuts.

Today in Sitiawan

you can find Foochow dumplings with red bean paste filling

sold throughout the year

My late mother in law 

usually bought one big bundle of 30 dumplings 

to celebrate the occasion

My mom likes to make her own dumplings.

Foochow Dumplings is not readily available in Ipoh where we reside.

It is also the time of the year that all of us girls in the family
sit together to help wrap these dumplings.

If  you are interested 

I would like to share you the following recipe

Foochow Peanut Dumpling

1 kg glutinous rice, soaked overnight or at least 4 hours

200g peanuts, with skin on (boiled until soften)

2 tsp salt

2-3 tsp alkali water

400g red bean paste, divide into 20 balls of 20g each (optional)*

Bamboo leaves & hempstring

soaked in boiling water overnight to soften, cleaned

1. drain rice, add salt & alkali water, mix well

2. mix in 1/2 soften peanuts

3. fold bamboo leaf into a cone, add 1 Tbsp rice

4. put 1 ball of red bean paste in, & cover with more rice

5. fold the leaf to cover the cone & fold in the sides

6. use a hempstring to secure the sides. 

7. cook in a pressure cooker (beans function)

8. when cooked, remember to hang the dumplings up so that it will not be soggy

Homemade red bean paste filling

250g red bean

165g sugar

50g oil

Day 1

1. boil red bean until soft, use pressure cooker

    let cool overnight

Day 2

1. blend the beans until fine

2. fry blended beans with sugar & oil until mixture leaves the side of pan

3. let cool overnight