With the Dragon Boat Festival just around the corner, it’s time for many Chinese families to enjoy the delicious rice dumplings—known as Bak Chang or Zong Zi. In Singapore, we’re fortunate to have a wide variety of rice dumplings, each uniquely crafted by the diverse Chinese communities from different dialect groups.
Today, you can find a broad range of Bak Chang, from sweet to savoury, with the most common varieties representing five dialects: Hokkien, Cantonese, Nonya, Teochew, and Hainanese.
So, what sets these delicious dumplings apart—and how are they made? Let’s break it down!
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Nonya
Photo credit: Shangri-La Singapore Official Store on Shopee
One of the most popular rice dumplings during the festive season, the Nyonya Bak Chang is known for its subtle sweetness, often achieved by cooking it with candied winter melon. Authentic Nyonya Bak Chang is typically dyed blue using butterfly pea flower water and filled with minced meat. If you're a fan of the recent drama The Little Nyonya: Emerald Hill, you absolutely must try making this delightful treat for the Dragon Boat Festival!
Hokkien
Another popular variety often found in markets is the Hokkien Bak Chang. This dumpling typically features flavourful pork belly, marinated in traditional five-spice seasoning—a blend commonly made up of star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel seeds. The glutinous rice is also richly seasoned by first being cooked with dark soy sauce before the other ingredients are added and the dumpling is wrapped. Hokkien Bak Chang is known for its bold, savoury taste and is often richer and saltier compared to other types.
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Cantonese
Photo credit: Joo Chiat Kim Choo website
The Cantonese Bak Chang is known for its rich and savoury flavour, as the rice is seasoned and cooked with salt and garlic oil. The garlic oil enhances the aroma and taste, giving each bite a bold, satisfying taste. Inside, you'll typically find salted egg yolk, mung beans, chestnuts, and pork belly—each ingredient seasoned to complement the others. The addition of chestnuts and mung beans also introduces varied textures, making this dumpling especially enjoyable for those who prefer a mix of soft and crunchy elements in their food.
Teochew
Photo credit: Joo Chiat Kim Choo website
Similar to the Hokkien Bak Chang, the Teochew version also features savoury ingredients, but it tends to be slightly sweeter. This is due to the inclusion of a ball of red bean or lotus paste. The Teochew Bak Chang typically combines seasoned pork belly, dried shrimp, and red bean paste, creating a well-balanced blend of sweet and savoury flavours that many people enjoy.
Hainanese
What sets the Hainanese Bak Chang apart from the others is the generous portion and quantity of ingredients used. While most versions aim to conceal the filling within glutinous rice, the Hainanese variety takes a “more is better” approach—featuring chunkier cuts of meat, mushrooms, and chestnuts, all well-seasoned with five-spice powder, dark soy sauce, and more. Many people love this version for its rich textures and hearty bite. Though it carries a slight hint of sweetness, it remains predominantly savoury—making just one dumpling a satisfying meal on its own.
There are many other variations of rice dumplings, such as kee chang—a plain alkaline glutinous rice dumpling that’s best enjoyed dipped in sugar. With so many varieties of bak chang, many recipes have been refined over time, often with added ingredients to enhance their flavour. However, there are still a few essential steps that define a bak chang, regardless of dialect or variation.
That being said, you can easily find many glutinous rice dumpling recipes online, tailored to your favourite type. However, there are some basic ingredients you'll need to prepare in order to create your own variation. If you're making them yourself, you can even explore new flavours and swap out certain meats to suit your personal taste!
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Glutinous Rice
Without a doubt, good-quality glutinous rice is essential. Since most bak chang are traditionally boiled during cooking, many people now use a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time and simplify the process. One vital step in making bak chang is soaking the glutinous rice. This softens the grains, helps them absorb seasonings more effectively, and ensures the rice cooks faster and more evenly. It’s best to soak the rice overnight, or for at least four hours before cooking. However, if you're using a pressure cooker, you may be able to skip this step!
Before folding the rice into the bamboo leaves, you need to stir-fry the glutinous rice! Besides using just oil, you can add garlic to enhance the aroma. Depending on the type of bak chang you’re making, you might add more dark soy sauce, alkaline water, sugar, or butterfly pea flower extract. These ingredients affect the flavour and appearance of the rice as it cooks, so it’s important to know which type of bak chang you want to make and prepare the ingredients accordingly.
5 Spice
If you’re a beginner and don’t know how to best marinate the meat and any ingredients you wish to add in, the legendary 5 spices is one that is fuss free and easy to marinate with. In fact, there are many ready-made 5 spices in powdered form that you can easily add into the meat and marinate immediately along with salt and pepper.
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Bamboo Leaves
You can easily purchase dry bamboo leaves from supermarkets or online platforms like Shopee. Most importantly, you need to soak the leaves before using them to wrap the dumplings. Bamboo leaves are generally strong and wide, making them easy to bend and fold without breaking. However, it’s still important to be mindful of the amount of rice and fillings you add to avoid overstuffing.
Ingredients in Bak Chang
The most important ingredient is the meat (bak). Most bak chang start with pork belly. Sautéing the marinated meat together with shallots and garlic helps enhance the flavour. As you stir-fry, feel free to add more seasonings like sugar, salt, or pepper to suit your taste and ensure the flavour is just right.
Next, depending on the type of bak chang you’re making or if you want to add more texture and taste, including salted egg yolk or chestnut can make the dumpling even more flavourful.
Some versions also include dried shrimp stir-fried with chili to add a spicy, aromatic kick. Just be careful not to add too much soy sauce or salt to your meat marinade if you’re including ingredients that are naturally salty.
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Honestly, bak chang is a dish where you have the freedom to decide what ingredients you want to include or leave out. The most important part is how you wrap it—making sure not to overfill and tying the bundles tightly so they don’t fall apart while boiling.
This Dragon Boat Festival, why not try making bak chang yourself—and maybe even turn it into a fun family activity where both young and old can wrap the rice dumplings together! If you find making rice dumplings too time-consuming or tedious, don’t worry. There are plenty of brands offering delicious bak chang that you can easily purchase online. Check out the different types of bak chang mentioned earlier in this story and treat yourself to your favourite one this week!
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