Recipe

Savory dumplings (simplified)

500 g glutinous rice, soaked overnight

200 g split mung beans, soaked

350 g belly pork

20 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked

20 dried chestnuts, soaked

10 salted egg yolks, cut in half

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon five-spice powder

40 pieces of large bamboo leaves, washed and dried

Cut belly pork into 20 pieces. Trim off the stems of Chinese mushrooms and cut caps in two. Marinate meat and mushrooms with the seasoning for at least two hours, or overnight in the fridge.

Drain the glutinous rice and beans.

Stack two bamboo leaves and use the broader stem ends to make a cone, leaving a tail of leaves at the other end. Place a spoonful of rice in the cone, spreading it up the sides so the meat, egg yolk, mushrooms and chestnut can be cradled in the hollow.

Add a spoonful of split peas followed by more glutinous rice to cover the filling.

Cup the cone firmly in your hand and fold over the leaves to create a flat base for the pyramid. Pinch the sides close and wrap the loose ends tightly around the dumpling. Secure with string or reed.

Boil the dumplings for at least four or five hours. Well cooked, the dumplings can keep for a week. Hang them up to dry before eating, so they will not taste soggy.

Variations:

Prepare walnut-sized balls of red bean paste. Soak the glutinous rice as usual.

Make the cone, add glutinous rice with a ball of red bean paste. Add more glutinous rice and wrap.

Boil three hours.

You can also skip the sweet filling and add soaked red beans to the rice. These dumplings are eaten with sweet syrup or sugar.