Tradition - an art almost lost....

I took the opportunity of a long weekend to make "Bak Chang" last Monday... The festival is coming up... actually it is on 7th June 2008 but since this was the best time, I did it early.

Have always thought that "Bak Chang" was one of the chinese traditions which should be kept and practiced so that future generations will also know how to do it.... Many younger generations now are not bothered to learn and always opt for the easy way of out of just buying from the stores... but then again, even the store ones are made by the older generation.. so what happens when they get too old to make it anymore?

So I was on a quest to preserve the art of tying "Bak Chang"... (the cooking part is not too difficult to learn...) So here was my journey... to make my "Ahma Bak Chang" - fusion of hokkien and nyonya "chang"....

The preparations started on Saturday and continued on to Sunday and some of Monday.. of course it wasnt full 3 days la... just that there was lots of things to prepare.. the ingredients needs to be cut to size, the leaf needs to be boiled and washed, the rice needed to be soaked and fried and the fillings needed to be cooked as well.. so come monday morning... we were ready to tie...

the rice...

the filling....

the leaf...

all tied up and ready for the pot....

in the boiling pot.....

after more than 2 hours... they are out of the pot!!one for testing... ;)
looking good....
yummy!!! All efforts not wasted... it was a success...

Now for the final test, mass distribution.... for all those who have eaten it, please feedback for future improvements... :)

Hope you all liked it!!

After all the hard work, I have decided I will do this biannually... haha!! too much work for an annual event...