Growing Up in Nonya kitchen

After my mother had made all her Nonya kueh chang, she also took the time to make two
other types of dumplings. This was considered the sweet one of the three types of kueh
chang and acted like a dessert whereas the others were almost like the main course.
It is described as kueh chang abu in reference to the alkaline water which Nonyas called
ayer abu.

In most recipes, you will not find the dark sweet sauce that complemented my mother’s
kueh chang abu. She simply melted gula melaka into a syrup.

600 g or 1 pound 5 ounces glutinous rice
1 tablespoon alkaline water
1 tablespoon oil
70 g or 2½ ounces cylinder of gula melaka

1 roll raffia string, cut into strips each
about 40 cm or 16 inches long

1. Scan the rice and pick out broken or transparent grains
and small stones. You can do this days before at a more
leisurely pace.

2. The night before, rinse the glutinous rice three times
until the water runs clear. Soak the rice in a pot with
enough water to cover the rice. Leave overnight.

3. Next day, drain the rice. Mix with the alkaline solution
and oil and set aside for 30 minutes.

1. Prepare a pot of boiling water. Dip the bamboo
leaves in the water briefly, then wipe them clean and dry.

2. Take two leaves laid over each other, smooth side
facing you. Use one leaf if it is a big one. Fold over each end
to form a cone. Fold over and press down to form a hollow.

3. Place a handful of plain glutinous rice into the
cupped leaf. Pack the rice tightly almost to the top and
leave some allowance.

4. Fold the remaining ends of the leaves over the rice. Fold
the leaves down to wrap around the dumpling, which should
be moulded at this point into a pyramid shape. Trim off
excess leaves.

5. Use a raffia string to tie tightly around the middle
of each dumpling at least twice.

6. For every 10 dumplings, tie the free ends of the strings
together to form a bundle.

7. To cook the kueh chang abu, prepare a large pot of
boiling water. Lower to a simmer and drop the kueh chang
abu into the pot and boil for 5 hours. Turn off the heat and
soak the kueh chang in the pot for a further 30 minutes.
Hang them up to drip dry.

8. To prepare the syrup, scrape the gula melaka and
transfer to a small saucepan. Over low heat, let the gula
melaka melt into a syrup. To avoid scorching, you may add
a little water while melting the gula melaka. Serve alongside
the kueh chang abu.