Hong Kong Chefs Reimagine Sticky Rice Dumplings for Dragon Boat Festival

Coated with honey and served alongside a fish sauce dipping sauce. Chefs from Hong Kong showcase creative methods for presenting Dragon Boat Festival snacks that are typically steamed.

The Tuen Ng Festival, commonly referred to as the Dragon Boat Festival, is among the most significant yearly events in Hong Kong. This festival falls on May 31 this year.

In addition to dragon boat races andsticky rice dumplings, zongzi , stand out as a major highlight of the festival.

Sticky rice dumplings Can be both sweet or savory, topped with sugar or dipped in soy sauce. However, regardless of how they're enjoyed, they are typically prepared through steaming.

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We sought out innovative ideas from chefs based in Hong Kong and one in Macau on preparing them differently.

Jayson Tang The recommendation from the one Michelin star Man Ho Chinese Restaurant located in Hong Kong’s Admiralty neighborhood proposes using either deep frying or air frying for meats, along with incorporating salted egg yolk into sticky rice dishes. dumplings , followed by drizzling them with golden syrup.

Tang mentions that deep-frying is another classic method for preparing rice dumplings. Golden syrup can provide a pleasant contrast similar to sugar, yet also adds a touch of caramel or toffee flavor.

Other chefs recommend combining rice dumplings with XO sauce .

Lam Yuk-ming, who leads the kitchen as the executive chef at Spring Moon—the one Michelin-starred restaurant located within The Peninsula Hong Kong hotel, known for inventing XO sauce—suggests initially pan-frying the dumplings to get a crisp exterior.

"This cooking method enhances the flavour, creating a delightful contrast between the crunchy exterior and the soft, savoury, or sweet filling inside," he says.

"To get the best outcomes, coat the cut rice cakes in an egg mixture prior to frying. This will make them turn a lovely golden brown with a delightful crispness. Add some drizzles of XO chili sauce right towards the end of cooking for an aromatic enhancement, or offer the sauce separately as a dipping option," he suggests.

Eric Ting, who serves as the chief operating officer of Jiangsu Club in Sheung Wan, explains that XO sauce complements rice dumplings effectively because "the robust umami flavor of the sauce, which comes from coarsely chopped dried sea delicacies such as scallops, fish, and shrimp, accentuates the delicate, earthy notes of the dumplings."

He notes that the inclusion of chilli peppers, onions, and garlic in the sauce enhances the chewy texture of the dumplings, offering a pleasing contrast.

Jack Chan, who leads the kitchen as the executive chef at Celestial Court in Tsim Sha Tsui, mentions that "cooking the dumplings in an egg wash gives them a smooth texture, adding depth when they're enjoyed alongside XO sauce."

Chef Wong Chi-fai from the three-Michelin-starred T'ang Court In Tsim Sha Tsui proposes different methods for cooking the dumplings.

"For plain dumplings, chop them into pieces and coat them with some potato starch, then deep-fry them. This goes well with XO sauce," he says. Condiments such as fish sauce He mentions that soy sauce or even pork floss can be excellent additions to dumplings when they are either deep-fried or pan-fried in an egg wash.

Chef Tam Kwok-fung from the two-Michelin-star restaurant Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau suggests utilizing sticky rice dumplings to craft a dessert akin to cheong fun rice noodle wraps, a popular Hong Kong street food.

After frying chunks of glutinous rice dumplings coated in an egg batter, you can toss them with sweet soy sauce, hoisin sauce , peanut sauce and chilli sauce," he says.

Tam also recommends dipping dumpling slices into five-spice powder Before frying them, then dipping them in soy sauce or chilli oil. "This was a street food from the 1960s," he notes.

When crafting sweetsticky rice dumplings, certain chefs find creative inspirationfromthe fillings usedinChinese sweetfriedpancakes, which typically include sugar, sesame seeds,groundpeanuts, anddesiccatedcoconut.

"Open up some sweet Chinese pancakes with the desiccated coconut, ground peanut and sugar fillings," Chan of Celestial Court says. "Then wrap the flat pancakes around pieces of rice dumpling and pan-fry them.

The browning of the rice pancake along with the nutty, sweet stuffing will offer a delightful contrast in both texture and taste.

Yuet Faat Li, who serves as the executive chef, Ming Court In Hong Kong's Mong Kok neighborhood, suggests slicing the sticky rice cakes into small portions and smothering them with a generous coating of sweet pancake stuffing.

This results in a taste akin to the chewy rice dumpling dessert commonly found. yum cha (the tradition of consuming Cantonese cuisine) dim sum He mentions, "Enjoying a cup of tea," and notes that topping it with a touch of longan honey gives an extra smokey flavor to the sweet dumpling.

Lam from Spring Moon offers a comparable suggestion: "To provide a revitalizing and textured experience, chilled rice balls can be sliced into small bites and coated with sugar, honey, or shredded coconut. This addition amplifies their inherent sweetness and introduces another dimension of taste," as he explains.

Chef Tam from Tam of Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau offers another idea that draws inspiration from the resourcefulness of past eras.

Prior to the advent of refrigeration, individuals would dry their excess sweet glutinous rice dumplings under the sun and later soak them for preparation. red bean sweet soup to add extra texture to the dessert," he says.

"They can be eaten like glutinous rice balls that we are now used to. We don't need to dehydrate the seasonal treats to store them any more, but we can still cut them into smaller pieces and add to sweet soups."