Love bak chang but need something more exciting than pork belly and salted egg yolk? This year’s harvest of out-of-the-box rice dumplings sounds particularly palatable, what with green Sichuan peppercorns and fish maw making their appearance. Here are a few worth a try.
If you’re a mala fan…
Get your fix in Wan Hao’s Pork Trotter and Peanut with Sichuan Peppercorn Dumpling ($22). The peppercorns’ tongue-tingling flavours cut through the richness of the meltingly tender pork trotters while the peanuts balance those flavours with their nutty earthiness.
If you haven’t had enough of black truffles…
You’ll love Paradise Group’s Black Truffle Honey BBQ Iberico Pork Rice Dumpling ($13.80). The earthy black truffles add a fragrant depth to the honey-laced Iberico char siew. Bougie, but affordable.
Jade’s Truffle and Trio Mushroom Five Grain Rice Dumpling ($20, shown above) is another option to consider. This vegetarian zhang is filled with king oyster mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms, black mushrooms, truffle paste, chestnuts and plant-based meat.
If you’re a culinary patriot…
You’ll be proud of Madame Fan’s Singapore-style Chilli Crab Rice Dumplings ($22), with sweet tendrils of mud crabs tinged with a piquant, sweet-spicy chilli crab sauce. The best part? No need to peel the crabs!
It also stands to reason that you’d want to try Jade’s Chicken Satay Rice Dumpling ($22, shown above), which captures the essence of this landmark dish with a filling of chicken thigh, peanuts, king oyster mushrooms and satay sauce within its glutinous rice package.
If you’re a seafood lover…
Feng Shui Inn’s Dumpling Set ($128) includes Dried Seafood Steamed Dumplings and Yunnan Mushroom and Fish Maw Dumplings alongside Trio Sweet Date Dumplings. The dried seafood dumpling has abalone, dried scallops and golden shrimps enriched with salted egg yolk and pork belly, which the fish maw dumpling features more prized seafood delicacies like abalone and scallops.
If you always have room for dessert…
Shang Palace’s Sweetened Purple Rice Dumpling with Homemade Kaya ($16) brings together rustic purple rice and luscious homemade kaya. The vibe is rich and comforting, like pulut hitam and kaya toast in a shiok, sticky dumpling.
藝 Yi by Jereme Leung’s Lemongrass Kee Chang ($28 for five) comes with a 200g jar of Raffles Signature Kaya in which you can dip the lemongrass-scented alkaline rice dumplings for a sweet, satisfying treat.
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This article was first published in Wonderwall.sg.
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