I did not have any of those pyramid-shaped meat dumplings this year…not during the actual date of the bak chang or dumpling festival, otherwise known as the Duan Wu Jie…
Every year, my mother-in-law would make for everybody, sometimes more than once a year…and at other times, I would go and buy from the mini supermarket near my house. The normal ones used to cost RM1.00 each while those with salted egg inside would cost more…but the thing was the dumpling kept getting smaller and the price kept getting higher. I loved the ones with salted egg but after a few occasions when I got those with not-very-nice salted egg inside, I stopped buying them altogether. It just was not worth it especially when the price had gone up to RM2 something for one of those. I might as well go and enjoy a nice plate of kampua noodles instead.
I have not had any nice ones for a while now…so when the festival came round this year, I did not bother to go out and buy some to eat in keeping with the old Chinese tradition. My mother-in-law did not make any as she had gone for an eye surgery sometime back and was told not to do any cooking after that.
Quite recently, however, my missus bought some at the Bus Station Food Court. The shape was kind of odd as the base of the chang was longer than the usual ones…and they were not very big either. They tasted good – almost like what my mother-in-law used to make…but there was hardly any meat inside.
I had almost given up on ever getting hold of any nice changs around here until the other day when I dropped by the coffee shop at the back portion of the Sibu Medical Centre premises. They have some of the better pulut panggang (RM0.70 – big and long ones, kosong) in town and other nice kuihs like ang-koo, kuih lenggang and so on. I saw the changs on sale, so I asked the lady how much they were. She said, “RM1.50,” and I thought to myself that they probably were not that good as they were comparatively cheaper than elsewhere.
The lady insisted that they were very nice and told me that somebody placed an order for a whole lot of those to bring over to Johore. With that kind of testimony, I could not resist buying two to try…and to my delight, they were really very nice – perhaps even better than the ones my mother-in-law made (…though my missus would never admit that! LOL!!!) and the best part was it had a lot of meat inside.
Actually, these photos were taken the second time I stopped by to buy the changs…and rest assured that I would be going back there for more.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
LOL… this year i got really, really lucky. A lot of big sisters sumbat me with Bak Chang… wahhh… eat until dun feel like eating til next year.
Humph! Some people have all the luck. π¦
Kakakaka… and I can’t wait for the Mid-Autumn festival. Got ppl promised to make me some mooncake lehhh! Bwhahahahah!
Mooncake? I’m boycotting… Too expensive these days. But of course, if got people giving me, I take lah! Muahahahaha!!!! π
hahaha..i bet i know who that “person” is. I have to go bodek her also hahahaha
I think I know also… If I were her, I’d just tell everybody I’ve changed my mind about making! Muahahahahaha!!!! Hey! She gives, must give something back also… Adat, good manners. π
I oso not really into mooncake… but ppl kasi free… homemade summore, I say no ah? If say no I dummy lorr! Mooncakes if buy outside, not only expensive, they’re not nice oso sometimes. π¦
I’m not buying. Last year, I bought a few local made ones in keeping with the tradition… Not so nice, never mind. At least, not so expensive! Daylight robbery. If only everyone will boycott- all refuse to buy…and the manufacturers can eat them all themselves, see whether they will still sell so expensive or not! Tsk! Tsk! π¦
Cikgu…haiyo…you have no experience on our balik kampung style yet…each time meet sure the fridge would be full punya. You give me..i give u….pengsan oh
Hehehehe!!! I have good excuse, no need to bring so much. Have to fly – cannot bring too much, or else excess baggage kena hukum. LOL!!! π
Haha π The shape is really unusual.
Ya, this one’s thin and tall. Comes in all shapes and sizes… Maybe the person making not that good at it yet. Most important thing – it tastes great. You see the ones my missus bought – the base long….and very short. Anyway, mustn’t criticise. I don’t even know how to make myself…so must appreciate people who can. π
I love how you have stories to accompany your food posts. I haven’t eaten rice in months. I do eat a lot of grains, just haven’t been eating brown rice (for some reason.) However, a few days ago, I bought some brown rice and made a vegetable stir fried rice.
The pyramids are cute… What type of leaves were used? Are they banana leaves? I’ve never seen this recipe before. I would love to Veganize them. Now I’m off to search for the recipe.
They use a kind of bamboo leaves, usually imported dried from China…even though we do grow our own here. There is a special quality about these leaves – they can keep the dumplings inside from going bad…unlike pandan (screwpine) leaves – the dumpling, if not refrigerated, will go bad pretty quickly. For this reason, people will put one of these bamboo leaves inside prior to wrapping with screwpine leaves (which give the dumpling a special fragrance especially in the making of the nyonya version of meat dumplings).
Ya, I would think that if I just post endless photos of food…food and more food, it would get pretty boring after a while. Some accompanying commentary would probably help arouse a bit of interest.
over here, no more 1rm bahchang, each one at least 2rm over.. some normal ones at 3.50 or 5rm.. depending on egg or no egg.. last time i love to eat, one or two one shot also no problem.. nowadays, cannot even finish one, if i did, it will last me for many many hours.. digestion not as good as the “old days”… π
Of course, no more RM1 these days…and those with egg, over here, they’re RM2 something each. Ya…a lot of (old) people complain of having problems digesting anything made from sticky glutinous rice. Fortunate;y, no problem for me… Can still eat. Hehehehehe!!! π
Claire… u oso get for free this year…. *grinz* tipu ah, say kenot digest? You oso hentam like nobody’s biz!
Hahahahaha!!! Maybe…enjoy now, pay later! Eat first, later suffer! π
means you are still young la, cikgu :D.
Or maybe my tummy, after all the years of abuse, can tahan anything now. LOL!!! π
yeah lo.. in terms of age, stp is older only..in terms of food, i m much older.. eat little bit of this and that only.. sigh…
Still can eat…must eat lor. The time will come – this cannot eat, that cannot eat. So miserable! And when my last upper molar is gone, can eat and want to eat…also cannot. Sobs!!! π¦
where there is a will ..there is a heir..opps…way..
Hahahahahaha!!! So you have one. When are you going to have another? ROTFL!!! π
yummy! i love mom’s made one! hehe! got chance sure will give u try it! π
Hah!!! That means if I go to KK, I must let you know way ahead of time…so your mom will have ample time to make some for me. LOL!!! π
Can you detect the ketumbar taste? Most changs nowadays claim to be nyonya changs but they taste just like ordinary chang with soy sauce meat.
Ya…that’s what my mum’s complaining about. That day, my brother brought up a few from Katong no less, authentic nyonya chang from Singapore. I was not impressed…and there was hardly any ketumbar fragrance. The ones in Kuching – many, no ketumbar at all but still, in comparison, I think some taste even nicer than the Katong ones.
Had lots of ‘chang’ in Spore. MIL bought from the market, S$1.50 n have bak ones n nyonya ones..not bad…here we also have,aroundA$3.50,nice as well n quite big. But still think homemade the best,amy’s nyonya chang very nice,she learned from my mum. I can make but lazy. π
Of course, can’t beat home made ones. My friend, Richard (Ah Choi/Tuapui Hiok’s nephew) makes very nice ones but this year, during the festival, he was away on holiday in Singapore…so he did not make any. I used to love the nyonya ones from the stall at the entrance of Cold Storage, Centrepoint, in Singapore. Dunno if they are still selling them there or not.
omg that is really cheap! in penang it is so expensive…i bought one for RM2.50 last week and the meat is definitely far from what you had. perhaps they put salted egg yolk inside but nowadays the salted egg yolk is just 1/4 or less of the whole yolk π¦
i miss the sibu chang with lotsa filing inside…my late grandma (who’s in sibu) used to make those “pillow zhang”. its square instead of triangular…
They say the pillow ones are Cantonese chang. RM5.00 each here…and I loved it the first time I bought – with all kinds of things inside beside the 5-spice soy sauce meat. There were lap cheong, peanuts, yam etc…but when I bought from the same place the 2nd time, not so many ingredients – same price…and not as nice. Never bought again after that. π¦
Usually pillow one that make by cantonese is kee chang not bak chang. My cousin sister make it every year and give it to me…Love it..
No, kee chang…is also pyramid shaped but very small, tied with thread. Inside, glutinous rice but translucent and yellow, can’t see the grains anymore. My mum loves the ones at a phong peah shop at Padungan – sometimes got red bean inside. Pillow one…very big, maybe 6 inches X 3inches…and inside, got lor pork, lap cheong, peanuts, or nee (yam), shitake mushrooms etc etc. RM5 here, but dunno if the price has gone up. Haven’t seen for a while, maybe not available anymore – too expensive, not laku.
Rm1.50 for bakchang is cheap. over here bakchang with yam paste cost RM3 each. still prefer Nyonya chang.
btw – what is the name of the cofeeshop you buy that RM1.50 chang. maybe drop in one day.
There’s only one coffee shop in the Sibu Medical Centre compound, somewhere in the back portion. Your nephew should know… The gu tor kampua is not bad…and the black chicken mee sua too. Gundot already ate both…at this coffee shop. LOL!!! π
You sure you still can get bak chang for RM1.00.?
RM1.50 lah… Where got RM1.00 ones anymore these days? Red bean filling, maybe lah!
wahh. rm1 only??!
and oh yea, stp, out of curiosity, what car do you drive? a honda accord izzit?
RM1.50 lah!!! You need (new) glasses? Honda Accord? You think my money grows on trees in my backyard and I senang2 go and pick kah? I drive the 1st generation Proton Saga – 8 valve! So kesian…not like this young man, driving Toyota Corolla latest model. π¦ Hey! I go Kuching, you take me around – become my Ahmad, ok? Muahahahahaha!!!!
Wah… ur still driving that car. My dad used to own a Megavalve…I like that car alot… very comfortable… I suka… but back in 1997… accident… he sold it off. SOBS! No more!!!
Megavalve is the second generation. Cheated by salesman – he said new model coming out, usually minimal changes and then jack up prices…so I bought the 1st generation model. Mana tau…they upgraded from 8 to 12-valve! Learnt my lesson – never trust sales people! All crooks. Tsk! Tsk! π¦
WOI. WHAT LATEST MODEL COROLLA. old one! lolz. and it’s not fixed yet. stupid umw. stp, mind helping me go set umw sibu on fire? =D
Hahahahaha!!! Partners in crime now, are we? π
I have been wanting to make this but keep postponing it coz I find wrapping the ‘chang’ challenging. Drooling at your ‘ chang’ , you have manage to make me crave for the ‘ pillow type of chang using the lotus leaves to wrap into pillows..:p Hopefully this weekend :p
Love those…but not easily available here and at times, when I stumbled upon any, over RM5 each. Very expensive. Ummmm…don’t give Claire, she cannot digest! Later tummy discomfort, susah! Muahahahahahaha!!!! π
hey hey… dont u influence my chef elin ah… i dont eat much, doesnt mean i cannot eat leh.. π
Hehehehehe!!! Feed me better – would not cause any problem at all! LOL!!! π
wah, so cheap, cannot get RM1.50 chang in KL leh!
Over there, RM4 or 5, I’m sure. Well, if it’s any consolation, these are not so big – maybe 70-75% of the size only.
Kakaka… I dun nid to pay for my changs changs! Mwhahahahaha… very happy, saved so much $$
Ooi! People give, must always balas…. Adat mah, good manners. Buy chocolates, Ferraro Rocher or butter cookies to balas. Muahahahahaha!!! Cheaper to go and buy! π
Sure I got balas… but dono they takut yet anot. All strange strange food I gv ppl! LOL~!
My food also strange one. Somebody commented that I seemed to break every rule in the book. Well, never follow recipe one – just trial and error and through remembering how my mum used to make it. Luckily, all have turned out pretty good…
Wow…good for you that you found a shop that sells good tasting changs.
I also lament your observation about the price getting higher and the food getting smaller. I think that is the trend nowadays. Also, sometimes, food makers sacrifice the taste to keep up with the rising prices.
Make smaller, never mind…but they increase the prices some more. Sugar goes up 20 sen a kg, they go up 20 sen also – not that they use one kg of sugar for each item. Tsk! Tsk!
Dumpling with meat and salted egg are sold at only RM2+ in Sibu eh? So cheap.. and at this price, I can have a bak chang for breakfast every morning. That’s how much I love bak changs. In KL, I have to pay easily RM4-5 for one.:(
RM4-5!!!??? *pengsan* At that price, I wouldn’t want to buy liao. I bought the pillow chang – RM5…twice… 1st time I ate myself, real nice…and the second time, I wanted my missus to try. So disappointed, they scrimped on ingredients. Still nice but not as nice as the 1st time. Never bought ever again.
I love chang! Sometime i will buy chang for my breakfast, like Inspired Mom said, chang not cheap in KL. This year, before my mil made our own chang, i bought it from morning market, the cheapest cost me RM3 per chang, not to mention the expensive one is RM5!!
I love my mother in law’s chang, she made a very good one, really (not to show off) but everyone after taste her, every year will ask from me! Few years ago, i do help her and learn how to wrap, i think next year i will take a day off and help her and do more practise before i forgot all.
If got chance, next time give you some to try. Now my mother also hook on her chang!
Ya….must learn. me old liao…otherwise, I would want to learn too. Now the old ones not making, the younger ones don’t have any to eat already. So sad! Always told my missus to learn from the mum but she just said cannot lah…will open lah…etc…etc…etc… I think she’s just not interested…so make excuses.
ooh I love dumplings! And I can’t imagine how you came up with the name pyramid?! haha
It’s pyramid-shaped mah. My post titles all names of songs and that’s the song by Charice Pempengo – the Filipino child singing sensation…in a scandal the other day, something to do with botox or what…
Guess who will be supplying eggs for all the mooncakes? *pengsan*
Eggs? What eggs? You mean you’re wholesaler…or importer of salted eggs kah? Hahahahaha!!!
wei…you started order the eggs yet or not? later naik harga again like the other day
What eggs? Salted eggs kah?
*grumble grumble* I know liao la, I know liao la… I go order liao la… ish~ This time 4 kotak… *PENGSAN*
Why so many eggs? For the skin…or the paste? Got use eggs kah?
moon cake got use salted egg yolk mah, cikgu. But personally I dont like it. My favourite mooncake would be red bean paste with lotsa kuaci. Not fond of those lotus or pandan or durian with egg
I only like lotus paste, nothing else. Btw, talking about the kuaci, I’ve always wondered. To remove the shell, I suppose you have to bite it to open and get the inside out…and then you ptui…ptui…ptui…it out to use in the mooncake? Muahahahahahaha!!!! π Or do you have an alternative way of doing that?
yuck…no la…maybe they use machine leh…
I super bak chang !!! Dont think i’ll be getting any soon. Hopefully they have them somewhere in chinatown.
I think they have…and not expensive. AUD$5.00 only. Muahahahahaha!!!! Can always have lor mai kai at the dim sum places instead, more or less the same.
super love*
Ya, I guessed that was what you meant. π
It looks so nice. I never eat the one with salted egg. I want to eat one after I read this post.
Nice…but the salted egg must be good. The ones I used to buy – I loved them so much until they started using not very good salted egg, so I stopped buying. RM2 something, not cheap.
I need one bak zhang now !!!
Kuching, no problem at all! Lots…all over they sell. Nyonya, the Green Road stalls are nice… Don’t buy from the fat girl on the pavement near Mekong – no ketumbar…only soy sauce, not really nyonya.
Oh …u reminded me that my freezer still got a few !!! I love to eat chang but can’t eat too much because of indigestion problem.
Oh? So you’re like Claire then…tummy not so good. Mine – heavy duty…anything goes. π
very very delicious….u r making me hungry now….i can wallop 4 pcs a day…hehehe…..
A day? Ok lah… If one sitting, I think I can manage two at the most! π
So much meat in there ! Looks so yummy … and so cheap too !! Ah, I miss these kinda food π
LOL!!! After a while there, you don’t think very much of the western cuisine anymore…even though you used to love them to bits when here….and willingly paid through your nose to eat them. The other man’s grass is always greener, I guess.
i first had that chang at Sibu medical few months ago. i went there at first to try the kuih they sell there which you mentioned and told me before. The chang are nice – they have chicken and pork chang. i think i did tell u about it. anyway i went there a few times to to buy them and they are still tasty. we can go there one of these days….cheers STP!
Oh? they had chicken and pork? I just assumed they’re pork… I like the pulut panggang and the pulut wrapped in banana leaves with sambal on top – very pedas. The rest are just so-so, I guess. Not bad but nothing to shout about.
Went and got myself some pyramids this afternoon at the SMC. They were nice but weren’t as tasty as I expected. Maybe my expectations were too high. Or maybe it’s the chicken filling. The lady told me they only sell halal chang. Well, I think I missed the pork grease.
Oh? Was it chicken? I didn’t even notice. Well, beggars can’t be choosers… So far, those are the best that I’ve had. Hopefully, will be able to find some better ones at such affordable prices.
I love to eat dumpling even it’s not during the dumpling festival π salted egg or not doesn’t matter but no fat meat + mushroom + lotsa beans will do π
Beans? What beans? You mean peanuts? I’m not into those in dumplings that much…but fat meat tastes so much better. No choice though, must control a bit…so have to be happy with leaner meat instead. π¦
I tried making it this year with my mom guiding me… it takes lots of skill and patience to learn how to wrap the dumpling.. lol.. Haven’t blog about it yet.. π¦
I’ve learnt it before when I was small…but was not very successful. Good that you tried to learn. Many these days not bothered at all…or the doting mothers would do it all, wouldn’t let them help and in the end, the skill/art would just fade away..
ermm.. seem like delicious.. it quite different with my home style..
my grandma will make those super dark chocolate de
More soy sauce, then it’s darker. Also nice. I like it with a lot of garlic like this one – can savour the strong garlic fragrance.
Ferrero Rocher cheap? Buy to balas cheaper? Haiyorr… buy buy tak main la… must cook myself to balas… if not no fun to ‘balik kampung’. Bwhahahaha~
Ya…I find it more meaningful to cook something yourself to share than to go to the shops and buy. Your labour of love – that personal touch makes a world of difference – something money cannot buy.
oh we called it “Suman” here
i know how to cook it hahaha
i used to dip it in sugar… yum yum
sorry for my late visit my friend
Ya…where have you been all this while? I was beginning to think that you do not want to drop by my blog anymore. Sobs… π¦ Welcome back, and don;t stay away so long ever again! π Dip in sugar? The plain ones, I think… We call those kee-chang here. My mum loves those but can’t get around here. Mostly with red bean inside…and not the same. Have to get from Kuching (another place here – not near)…
I used to go to Chopstick for the bak changs. The price increased from RM1.50 last time to now RM2.50 without salted egg yolk. Will sure go to that coffee shop and buy the soonest. Thanks for sharing.
Try Loke Ming Yuen (opposite Mitsu Shabu-shabu), some likes the ones there. The ones at the coffee shop next to the Methodist Book Room are pretty good too. Incidentally, Farley has very nice halal ones, chicken, but they sell out very fast.