Also Rou zong, Minnan meat zongzi, Hokkien rice dumpling
A pyramid of soy-darkened sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves round braised pork belly, mushroom, chestnut and salted egg yolk.
What makes it bak chang
Glutinous rice stir-fried with soy and shallots, so it's brown before it's wrapped.
Braised pork belly at the centre, with shiitake, chestnut, dried shrimp and salted egg yolk.
Wrapped in bamboo leaves into a pyramid, tied and boiled for hours.
Where it comes from
Zongzi are eaten all over China for the Dragon Boat Festival, but the Minnan kind — Quanzhou's especially — is rich and savoury: the rice fried with soy and shallots before it's wrapped, the pork braised first. Hokkien emigrants made it the rice dumpling of Singapore and Malaysia, where it's called bak chang.