Kee Chang (碱水粽), my mom’s favorite Chang. Plain, with no filling – just the simple taste of Kee with a drizzle of gula melaka or coconut palm syrup. Kee Chang are rice dumplings made with alkaline glutinous rice. The rice is alkalinized with lye water or kee; hence the name ‘Kee Chang’.
Bite size bliss!
A good Kee Chang is golden, a little translucent with a nice chewy ‘QQ’ texture. Mom likes her Kee Chang bite-sized so that it feels one never can have too much. Simple pleasures in life 😊
The Tradition of Chang or 粽子
The art of Chang (粽子) originated a couple thousand years back when the Chinese wrapped these dumplings and offered them to the river deities to prevent them from devouring the body of the beloved patriot Qu Yuan (屈原). It’s quite a tale – read more about it here.
These were offerings to placate the River God
For me, Bao Chang (包粽子) or wrapping traditional dumplings belong to that chasm I call the generation gap. Whilst I love my sweets and quite like Kee Chang, it’s never something I crave. But that’s not the same for Mom. This is easily her favorite Chang. Eaten with a drizzle of gula melaka syrup, she will always yearn for it as she reminisces about the delicious Nonya and Kee Changs made by her sisters (my beloved aunts).
So it started with Mom critiquing some Kee Chang that was gifted to her – “No taste of Kee and the sticky rice is coming apart”. Then she suddenly turned to me and said, “Lee, can you make Kee Chang? You make so many wonderful desserts, I am sure you can do it”. When your octogenarian Mom has her heart set, something’s gotta give 🙄. After numerous purposeful and determined Chang conversations with Mom, I finally raised the 🏳 and decided to feel ‘empowered’ about it!
My mommy dearest – can you sense the steely ‘aura’?
I brought my home-made Kee Chang over to the folks and Mom was super happy after the taste test. Yayy!! I now better appreciate the skill and art of Chang and am blessed indeed to have made this traditional sweet!
Golden & perfect with coconut palm syrup
Eat Kee Chang with homemade gula melaka or Coconut Palm Syrup. Check out my Coconut Palm Syrup recipe – just 3 main ingredients and comes together in ~30 minutes on the stove. Thick, drippy, coco-nutty and caramel-ly. Easy home-made delicious-ness. Perfect with Kee Chang.
Step-by-step tutorial – How to make Kee Chang
If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here 😊
Tips
Kee Chang is actually a simple recipe. Preparing the rice is easy. The time consuming part is soaking and cleaning the leaves and of course the most skill intensive of all – the actual wrapping process.
Practice makes perfect – my initial imperfect trio
Once you have mastered the technique of wrapping Chang, making Kee Chang is not difficult and it can be a wonderful family activity where many hands make light work and everyone gets in the act.
#1 Preparing the Leaves
- Rehydrate dry bamboo leaves well before use. Soak them in boiling water and overnight. The dry leaves will turn a deep green when they are rehydrated.
Make sure the leaves are submerged
- The leaves and twines need to be properly cleaned and washed, so wash thoroughly.
Lotsa grime & dirt – wash well
- Snip off the hard tips and discard torn leaves.
Check leaves for discards
- I find it easy to clean the leaves with a towel. Gently wash both sides with a small towel to remove the dust and dirt.
Using a small towel is a great help
- The leave should feel clean and not slimy after washing.
Clean, shiny and all ready!
#2 De-constructing the wrapping process (or watch the recipe video!)
- Feel the two sides of the leaves. The stem protrudes on one side but is smooth and flat on the other. Smooth side should be the contact side with the rice.
Protruding side (top) vs Smooth side (bottom)
- Use two leaves to get more surface area wrapping the Chang. Take a pair of leaves, fold it midway and make a cone.
- Fill the cone with glutinous rice until 90% filled. Compact the rice gently with the spoon.
Don’t overfill …
- Fold in the sides first, then bring the long end of the leaves downwards to fully cover the rice and make a triangle.
Fold in sides first, then the long end …
- Take your time to make a nice compact triangular Chang. It needs to be compact or the rice will ‘escape’ when the Chang is cooked in water and it will be a fail. So give time for this part to properly make a tight compact triangle.
Important to form a compact triangle
- Once the triangle is nicely formed, tie firmly with a twine to secure the shape. Practice makes perfect. Do this a few times and you will get the hang of it.
Nicely secured
#3 Storage
Once the Kee Chang is cooked, it can be kept at room temperature for 2-3 days. It keeps well chilled in the fridge for 7 days or alternatively the Kee Chang can be frozen and keeps fresh for 6-8 weeks. To consume, steam it from frozen for 15-20 minutes or until well softened, then drizzle with a little coconut palm syrup and enjoy.
Did you make this Kee Chang? I would love to know how it turned out for you. Tell me more! 😊 Please leave me a comment or tag me on Instagram, FB hashtag #thesugarcrumble
Kee Chang
Ingredients
- 1 kg glutinous rice
- 30 g lye or kee dissolved in 50ml boiling water or 2 tbsp alkaline water
- 2 tbsp oil
- 100 - 120 dry bamboo leaves (Length ~ 35 - 45cm, width ~ 8cm)
- Bamboo twines for tying the Chang
Instructions
Preparing the leaves
- After soaking, wash the leaves and twines thoroughly. Cut the twines into short lengths for tying the Chang.
- Snip off the hard stems and brown tips of the leaves. Finally using a towel, clean both sides of the leaves to remove any dirt. Leaves should feel clean and not slimy.
- Check and discard broken or torn leaves. Once cleaned and snipped, drain and set aside.
Preparing the glutinous rice
- Wash the glutinous rice. Once cleaned, soak overnight
- Rinse the soaked rice and drain the water completely. Add 2 tbsp alkaline water or the dissolved lye and 2 tbsp oil. Mix thoroughly and let the rice marinate for an hour before wrapping.
Wrapping the Chang ( See Notes)
- Feel the two sides of the leaves. The stem protrudes on one side but is smooth and flat on the other. Smooth side should be the contact side with the rice
- Using two leaves, fold midway and make a cone.
- Fill the cone with 2 tbsp until 90% full. Tap gently to compact the rice
- Fold in the sides and bring the long end of the leaves over the rice to make a triangle.
- Hold firmly and take your time to make a nice compact triangle. Adjust if necessary.
- Once you have formed a neatly packed triangle, secure firmly with a twine. Repeat until rice is completely used up.
Cooking the Chang
- Place the Chang in a large deep pot and submerge fully in water. Bring the water to a boil, then cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours on low heat.
- To see if the Chang is cooked, unwrap one and check if the inside is soft. If it is hard and the rice falls apart easily, boil them till soft (for another 15 – 30 minutes).
- Once cooked, remove from the pot and drain well. The Kee Chang is too soft to eat immediately. Cool completely and let it sit for a day. It will firm up nicely and be the perfect texture.
Video
Notes
- Rehydrate dry bamboo leaves well before use. Soak them in boiling water and overnight. The dry leaves will turn a deep green when they are rehydrated.
Make sure the leaves are submerged - The leaves and twines need to be properly cleaned and washed, so wash thoroughly.
Lotsa grime & dirt - wash well - Snip off the hard tips and discard torn leaves.
Check leaves for discards - I find it easy to clean the leaves with a towel. Wash gently both sides with a small towel to remove the dust and dirt.
Using a small towel is a great help - The leave should feel clean and not slimy after washing.
Clean, shiny and all ready! #2 De-constructing the wrapping process (or watch the step-by-step recipe video!)- Feel the two sides of the leaves. The stem protrudes on one side but is smooth and flat on the other. Smooth side should be the contact side with the rice.
Protruding side (top) vs Smooth side (bottom) - Use two leaves to get more surface area wrapping the Chang. Take a pair of leaves, fold it midway and make a cone.
- Fill the cone with glutinous rice until 90% filled. Compact the rice gently with the spoon.
Don't overfill ... - Fold in the sides first, then bring the long end of the leaves downwards to fully cover the rice and make a triangle.
Sides first, then long end ... - Take your time to make a nice compact triangular Chang. It needs to be compact or the rice will ‘escape’ when the Chang is cooked in water and it will be a fail. So give time for this part to properly make a tight compact triangle.
Important to form a compact triangle - Once the triangle is nicely formed, tie firmly with a twine to secure the shape. Practice makes perfect. Do this a few times and you will get the hang of it.
Nicely secured #3 Storage Once the Kee Chang is cooked, it can be kept at room temperature for 2-3 days. It keeps well chilled in the fridge for 7 days or alternatively the Kee Chang can be frozen and keeps fresh for 6-8 weeks. To consume, steam it from frozen for 15-20 minutes or until well softened, then drizzle with a little coconut palm syrup and enjoy.4 Comments
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Fantastic! First time I see such a detailed and delicious walk-through!
Haha thank you. Just like how your home is organized!^^
Thank you for sharing the recipe, Kai. This is what I have been searching for…use of kee for kee chang! It was well liked by my family especially when I wrapped them with red bean paste.
Hi Jolene, I missed seeing your comment earlier. Wrapped with red bean paste sounds good 🙂 Thanks for sharing! Made my day and happy your family liked it.