Cover Esther and Cleo Loong, the mother-daughter duo behind The Zong Zi Bar
Esther and Cleo Loong, the mother-daughter duo behind The Zong Zi Bar
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The mother-daughter duo is behind The Zong Zi Bar, which was founded during the lockdown
“My mum has been making zong for as long as I can remember!” Cleo Loong enthuses. “As a child, I would always snack on the little fried shrimp she would lay out—sometimes so much so that she wouldn’t have enough left to fill the dumplings!”
I first met Cleo three years ago during the lockdown when she and her mother, Esther, set up a home business selling rice dumplings. Previously, Esther would only make dumplings to gift family and friends during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Esther learned to make the different varieties of dumplings from her paternal and maternal grandmothers when she was young. “My great grandmother was a Nonya, and my mum learned to make Nyonya zong from her. She learned how to make the Hokkien variety from her maternal grandmother. Both were amazing cooks,” Cleo gushes.
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Above Dumplings from The Zong Zi Bar
Dumplings from The Zong Zi Bar
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Cleo and her mum make three traditional varieties of rice dumplings—the Hokkien zong, the Nyonya zong, and the alkaline zong. Cleo talks me through the process for making each dumpling, starting from the Hokkien zong.
“Every maker has their own choice of filling but in general, a dumpling consists of meat, salted egg, chestnut, and bean,” she explains. Cleo and Esther begin by purchasing salted duck eggs, cleaning each egg, then gently separating the yolk from the white.
“We always buy double A eggs as the yolk is larger and flakier but they are often limited during the months approaching the (Dragon Boat) festival.” This is because the eggs need to be cured for at least a month before they are ready for use.
Above Only double A-grade eggs are used
Above Chestnuts are one of the ingredients in the Hokkien zong
Only double A-grade eggs are used
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“We buy pork from the market, chop it up, and mix it with five-spice powder, beans, and rice,” she continues. The ingredients are then lightly roasted in a wok and set aside.
“The bamboo leaves used to wrap the dumplings need to be individually washed and soaked. Then comes the hardest part—the wrapping,” Cleo laughs. “We shape the leaves into a cone and pack in the rice, followed by the meat and yolk, then more rice.” This tedious process can take up to an hour for a single batch of 10 dumplings.
The dumplings are then tied with twine before they are submerged in simmering water for up to six hours. Since bamboo leaves and twine are organic material, it can often snap, resulting in burst dumplings and a lower yield.
“While Hokkien zong is more savoury, the Nyonya zong is on the sweet side,” Cleo explains. The main differences are the use of minced pork instead of chunks of meat, as well as diced, candied wintermelon. Blue pea flower also gives the rice a distinctive blue hue.
“We grow our own blue pea flower at home, boil it to extract the colour, and mix it with rice, chicken stock, and pork oil,” Cleo adds. While coconut milk is sometimes used in Nyonya zong, Esther refrains due to personal preference.
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Above The ingredients in the Nyonya zong
Above Bamboo leaves wrap each rice dumpling
The ingredients in the Nyonya zong
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“My mum also minces the pork manually, rather than using a food processor, in order to achieve the texture she wants,” she says.
Other than wintermelon, another key ingredient is coriander seeds, which Esther roasts in a wok and grinds down into a spice. “Rice is placed at the base of the dumpling, followed by the meat, then more rice and pandan leaves, before it is wrapped in bamboo leaves.”
The last traditional variety Cleo details is the alkaline zong. “It is the simplest to make—rice is soaked with water and air abu (sodium silicate) overnight. The water begins to turn yellow, giving the dumpling a yellow tone,” she says. Red bean paste is also added, which Esther makes by cooking red beans with fragrant orange skin.
“Being smaller, the alkaline zong is the easiest to hold during wrapping,” she adds. Furthermore, less ingredients are involved, and the steaming process is much quicker. The use of the sodium silicate results in a dumpling that is bouncier and chewier.
Esther and Cleo also make a healthier rendition of the Hokkien-style zong, in which 50 per cent of glutinous rice is replaced with millet and quinoa. “The use of the different grains results in a bite and chew with more texture,” Cleo enthuses.
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Above Dumpling making can be tedious and time-consuming, two factors that turn the younger generation off from learning the skill
Dumpling making can be tedious and time-consuming, two factors that turn the younger generation off from learning the skill
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While many of our parents and grandparents are familiar with the art of zongzi making, the skill is slowly disappearing due to its time-consuming nature. “I had always wanted to learn to make rice dumplings, and the lockdown finally gave me the opportunity to,” Cleo says. “Zong is something special for everyone who has celebrated since young, and I hope it will bring back fond nostalgic childhood memories.”
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Images: Courtesy of The Zong Zi Bar
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About
Katelyn is the dining and travel editor of Malaysia and Indonesia. Based in Kuala Lumpur, she offers readers an inside look at the movers and shakers in Asia’s growing food and beverage industry.
