Dumplings 粽子 time: Pork free 粽子 @ Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant One World Hotel

Often many complain that the 粽子(dumplings / zongzi) are wee too oily and acts up on their digestions. So here's some good news! Head down to Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant at One World Hotel for some good not oily and Pork Free glutinous rice dumplings. Yes its halal and its yummy.

I hear you out there. I hear you asking "How can it be halal and yummy". I was skeptical myself before I tasted the dumplings. But really, minus the lard and the fat (which I normally spit out because its a wee too slippery for my liking:P), the folks at Zuan Yuan have really made the 粽子 just as good as 粽子 should be - fluffy rice and flavourful fillings.

The first is tasted was the Traditional Five Grain Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Sliced Australian Abalone at RM58 per dumpling. This power packed 1kg dumpling is filled with sliced Australian Abalone(of course:P). Additional ingredients such as dried scallop, sliced duck, diced mushroom, lotus seed, dried shrimps, salted egg yolk and chest nut makes it absolutely delightful. The duck meat adds a whole world of ooomph to the gorgeous abalone. Now don't get too excited and expect huge slices of abalone. They are nicely sliced so you don't get a crazy chewy like chewing gum dumpling although I did hope to see just a wee more abalone.

Five different grains like basmathi, black glutinous rice, oats, wild rice and brown rice are mixed with the glutinous rice to add flavour and texture to the 粽子. The end result is a very well thought of a healthy dumpling 粽子. This dumpling can be shared with at least 2 to 3 persons since its much bigger than the conventional dumplings.

Meanwhile, make a guest who's pretty face is hidden by the 1kg Traditional Five Grain Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Sliced Australian Abalone ?

Next came the Eight Treasure Glutinous Rice Dumpling Hong Kong Style at RM25 per dumpling. And ingredients that goes into this Hong Kong style 粽子 includes sliced roasted duck, pacific clam, salted egg yolk, gingko nut, lotus seed, barley, ground nuts, green bean, mushroom, black-eye bean and chest nut. This is also a very flavourful 粽子 that will have you wanting more. Nothing overpowers each other and its all a perfect blend of flavours.

And what is 粽子 festival if one does not taste the sweet ones? Normally we end up having Alkaline Dumplings "kee chang" stuffed with either red bean or we dip it into Palm Sugar "Gula Melaka"

One really has to praise the chef for coming up with such a brilliant 粽子. Who would have thought of Steamed Sweet Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Red Dates Paste? Yes the red dates 紅棗 "hong zao". Its cooked slowly over slow fire for 8 hours before its been blended into paste form. At one glance it did look yucky and kinda kaya like. However, I was taken aback by the smoothness and the natural sweetness of the red dates. Nothing obscenely sweet. It is exactly the flavour and taste that I get when I make red dates drink at home all so often (because its passed down in my Goon family and my inlaws side that red dates promotes good blood circulation and good skin). This is a must try when you visit Zuan Yuan.

While you're enjoying the 粽子, you must check out the wide variety of Chinese Tea available at Zuan Yuan, Good tea helps take away the discomfort that some folks get when they consume glutinous rice. Plus it helps clear the palate well so that you can really savour each of the dumplings you order.



The dumplings are available during lunch and dinner for dine-in and take-away. For reservations or orders, please call Zuan Yuan at 603 7681 1159. Hurry because the dumplings promotion started on Monday 23rd May and ends on Monday 6th June 2011.

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Here's a peek at some of the ingredients that went into the above mentioned gorgeous dumplings. How many can you recognise in their raw form? The duck does not count since its so obviously a duck. LOL.

Dumplings 粽子 time...

Its dumplings 粽子"zongzi" galore this time of the year - 5th day of the 5th lunar month. This is sometimes called bakchang. Some call it "zong". This is a celebration widely celebrated by Chinese around the world and in Malaysia, most of my Malay and Indian friends join in the celebration that it is time to go bakchang overload:P

The real reason behind the celebration however is to honour the poet Qu Yuan (340-278 B.C.) from the Chu Kingdom who was so grieved that his country was taken over by the Qin General. So great was his grief, he jumped into the river. As the legend goes, packets of rice were then thrown into the river so that the fishes would not eat his body. Another story has it, that the wrapped rice are thrown into the river to appease the dragons that live underwater. Thus the 粽子 season is also during the Dragon Boat Race time.

Its not an easy task to make them - the wrapping itself is insanely labour intensive that only skilled hands can handle. So I rather save myself the labour and embarrassment. Off I go this season to seek good dumplings:D

I say labour intensive and only skilled hands because there's so much ingredients to prepare. Even the glutinous rice had to be soaked for a few hours, a lot of slicing, marinating of the ingredients...Then comes the highly skilled process of wrapping. Unless you wrap it right and wrap it well, your whole will turn all soggy and probably be oozing out of the bamboo leaves when you boil the 粽子

So here's a heads up folks, the next few blog post will be on dumplings. I promise you, they will be one of the best 粽子 around.