GEORGE TOWN: Unlike many youngsters who spend much of their time in front of the computer or shopping, the Yeoh siblings have been learning to make chang (dumpling) from their 68-year-old grandmother.
Yeoh Keng Teong, 20, and his sister Ai Feng, 15, both tried the art of making the centuries-old delicacy and found it interesting although “not easy”.
Labour of love: Ng teaching her grandchildren Keng Teong and Ai Feng the way to fold the dumplings at her house. “It was difficult to tie the dumplings properly,” said Ai Feng, adding that she usually ended up with funny-shaped dumplings instead of the usual pyramid ones.
Keng Teong did not have much patience with the art, saying: “The process is so complicated. I’d rather help by eating when they are done.”
Despite their complaints, their grandmother Ng Sho Ki is determined to pass on her skills to her grandchildren so that they can carry on the tradition of the Dumpling Festival.
She has bequeathed her grandchildren the recipes for the slightly spicy nyonya dumplings and signature oat dumplings where glutinous rice is replaced with oats and coarse rice.
“I did not make as many dumplings this year due to my failing eyesight. Sooner or later, I may not be able to make these dumplings any more and I hope my grandchildren will be able to take over,” she said.
In Johor Baru, nyonya dumplings are selling like hot cakes at Kam Yee Chin’s snacks outlet in Taman Perling.
Although this is the first time Kam has ventured into making nyonya dumplings, she has already received a few hundred orders from her customers since Monday.
The Chinese Dumpling festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. The festival is celebrated in remembrance of Qu Yuan, a scholar in the kingdom of Chu during the Warring States period.
Spicy favourite: Kam wrapping the nyonya dumplings which sell like hot cakes at her outlet in Taman Perling. When the Chu capital was taken over by their Qin neighbours, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the river. Afraid that the fish would devour his body, the people threw packets of rice into the river.
Another folklore states that dumplings were thrown to placate a dragon in the river.
