Perhaps I have not been shopping much elsewhere throughout the pandemic so I am quite used to it and will not venture elsewhere.
I saw this pillow dumpling (chin thow chang)…
…at where else, if not my neighbourhood fruit & vegetable sundry shop in the next lane and since the Duanwu Jie or the Dragon Boat Festival, commonly referred to as the Chang Festival is round the corner (June 3rd), I thought I would buy one and try to see if it is any good.
If I am not wrong, this type of dumpling is Cantonese but when I opened it, I saw a whole lot of peanuts…
I did hear somebody saying that such peanut dumplings are Hakka ones.
I’m afraid I did not really enjoy it – it was salty, not really tasty, in my opinion. There might be tiny bits of minced meat inside…
…but it did not do anything to enhance the taste, unfortunately.
I did buy these pillow changs before, a long long time ago and they tasted like lor mai kai…or the regular Hokkien chang, just that they came in a different shape. I enjoyed those, RM5.00 each at the time but not this one. I guess I will just go and buy my favourite changs from here when the festival comes around.
I also stumbled upon these paos (steamed dumplings)…
…at the mini-supermarket…
…in the next block.
They told me that somebody made them at home and sent them to the shop for sale but looking at all those trays (the big yellow ones they use to stack the bread at bakeries) with all kinds of filling, I find it quite hard to believe. That sure is a whole lot for one person to handle.
Anyway, I bought two…
…pork and chicken (RM2.60 each) and steamed them when I got home to try.
I was delighted to see that huge chunk of egg in the one with the chicken filling…
…one quarter of it, but they used ground/minced meat and I did not think it tasted great.
The pork…
…was very much nicer but again, they used ground/minced meat for the filling too and there was NO egg inside.
I would much sooner go for the cheaper (RM2.20 & RM2.30 each only) AND very much nicer NICER pork and chicken ones at the aforementioned sundry shop
SWEE HUNG (2.316161, 111.840441) is located along Jalan Ruby, in the block of shops on the right β next to a hair salon at the extreme end and on the other end, to the left is the Kim Won Chinese Medical Store and Mini-supermarket while KIM TAK MINI SUPERMARKET is located along Jalan Ruby, in the block of shops on the left of the parking area β AH KAU CAFE (2.316346, 111.839861) and LOUIS BAKERY LW.Pattisserie (2.316411, 111.839847) are located in that same block to the extreme left .
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Yes, pillow Chang is Cantonese thing but the filling isn’t. Lol. Pooh. Egg in Pau!! sayang, it isn’t nice.
The filling is definitely Hakka, not to my liking. Ya, too bad, You will not see buying it, nor the paos again.
1/4 egg in your pao, count your blessing. This morning I bought bak pao from a new kuih stall near my area, no egg, just a lump of minced meat and cost me RM2.80/pao. Not that great. Changs with peanuts filling are mostly Hakka changs but the Hakkas don’t make theirs like pillows. So I would say pillow shape belongs to Cantonese and peanuts fillings belong to Hakka… πππ
Yes, obviously the filling is Hakka but the shape is Cantonese. Not to my liking so once bitten, twice shy – will never buy again! Wowwww!!! RM2.80, no egg and not that great some more. I would be so angry! LOL!!!
Sa fast the dumpling festival is coming soon! ooohhh…I love chang, the nonya ones especially. But I can’t take too much due to the glutinous rice – high carbs! But enjoying one is no harm because I am capable of downing two in one sitting. LOL!
Yes, I would want to have two at one go too, the nyonya ones, but pulut is a whole lot starchier than ordinary rice, gotta control! Thankfully, we can’t buy the nyonya ones here – I am more disciplined with those Chinese/Hokkien chang – will eat and enjoy but will not go overboard!!!
I haven’t eaten chang with peanuts in it for a long, long time. Now, I am thinking of going to Pusing to buy the pillow chang which I like very much.
My guess is Pusing is a district in Ipoh or another town nearby? One thing over at your side is one can drive from one town past another along the highway and yet, one doesn’t not feel it’s in another town. Nice highway, all so well-linked. Here, it is very obvious – all that jungle in between towns and small bazaars.
I am Hakka but we don’t wrap pillow shaped dumplings.
Ours is always in pyramid shape and savoury too.
Pretty much like the standard ones, I guess.
But I have to say I don’t often see dumplings tied up with straw strings any more.
Across the water, we tend to use plastic strings, which is rather sad I know.
I actually know how to wrap dumplings but I don’t have a pressure cooker here in London.
Cooking dumplings in traditional way will take about 3 hours to make sure the glutinous rice is properly cooked.
But with a pressure cooker, I can finish the work in half an hour! Isn’t that amazing?!
You can grab one from Argos, can return within 30 days for a full refund. They still allow that?
The instant I see raffia/plastic strings, I will simply refuse to buy already, no second thought.
It has to be the straw or a thread – they use the latter in Kuching.
Have you seen this video clip? My Singapore blogger friend, Chef & Sommelier, Alvin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eLuETmMhlg
Oh, I like peanuts but they don’t look appealing in the pillow dumpling.
On the whole, this did not tickle my fancy. Disappointing, will not bother to buy it again.