Short note: This will be my last entry from Malaysia, as I will be heading down to KL tomorrow morning to take my flight back to Japan on the same day. But before that, I will take a transit flight at Changi first, before touching down at Narita. It is going to be another long journey and I hope I will not feel too exhausted by the time I reach my room on Tuesday evening. Six-weeks of a wonderful summer break has finally come to an end, and it will be back to the same daily routine for me once more. I just cannot wait for the next trip home. When will that be? Anyone fancy a guess?
I know it is more than three months since it was the bak zhang season.However, I managed to persuade my grandma to make some for me before I return to Japan, because I was still in Japan when people were enjoying the bak zhang back home back then. Remember how weirdly I celebrated the day by making curry puffs, out of so many things back then? So, I consider this as the redemption time for me personally. To those who are still in the dark about what bak zhang is, basically it is a Chinese traditional food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different kinds of fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. Bak zhang is how we call it in Hokkien dialect, whereas it is called zong zhi (粽子) in Mandarin. The glutinous rice, cooked with black soy sauce and some spices; and the filling, which compraises of pork or chicken, mushrooms and also some spices are prepared beforehand. I would say bak zhang will taste better if pork is used, compared to chicken. Furthermore, if chicken is used, we could no longer call it bak zhang anymore. We will have to call it keh zhang.

The ingredients (clockwise from top left): Glutinous rice, pork cooked with mushrooms, castanopsis (buah berangan) and dried prawns. Bamboo leaves are used to wrapped the dumplings and shaped into a pyramid shape. It is the bamboo leaves that give that special aroma to the bak zhang. Normally, the bamboo leaves and the strings are soaked in water first, so that it will not be that crispy and hard. Otherwise, the leaves will tear easily and will make it difficult when it comes to the wrapping part.Not everybody is able to wrap the dumpling neatly, unless they have been doing it frequently for years. Although my grandma does not make bak zhang that often, I would say she still able to wrap the dumplings nicely. First, two bamboo leaves are places together like it is shown in the picture below. Later, it is filled with some glutinous rice, fillings, dried prawns and some fried shallots. More glutinous rice are later filled into the upper part of the dumpling to cover the ingredients.Then comes the tricky part - the leaves folding part. We have to make sure that every fold is nice and neat, otherwise the glutinous rice and fillings will spill out when we steam the bak zhang. The tying part is not an easy thing either, because if the bak zhang is not tied properly, it will loosen up later on. It is more common for us to use hemp string from banana trunks if the bak zhang is home-made, and it is not advisable to use rafia string to tie the bak zhang, because the chemical from the rafia string could leech into the bak zhang when we steam them. My grandma prefer the steaming method, instead of boiling the bak zhang in water because it will preserve the taste of the bak zhang more.
I know it is more than three months since it was the bak zhang season.However, I managed to persuade my grandma to make some for me before I return to Japan, because I was still in Japan when people were enjoying the bak zhang back home back then. Remember how weirdly I celebrated the day by making curry puffs, out of so many things back then? So, I consider this as the redemption time for me personally. To those who are still in the dark about what bak zhang is, basically it is a Chinese traditional food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different kinds of fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. Bak zhang is how we call it in Hokkien dialect, whereas it is called zong zhi (粽子) in Mandarin. The glutinous rice, cooked with black soy sauce and some spices; and the filling, which compraises of pork or chicken, mushrooms and also some spices are prepared beforehand. I would say bak zhang will taste better if pork is used, compared to chicken. Furthermore, if chicken is used, we could no longer call it bak zhang anymore. We will have to call it keh zhang.
The ingredients (clockwise from top left): Glutinous rice, pork cooked with mushrooms, castanopsis (buah berangan) and dried prawns.
Filling the bak zhang with the ingredients. 
It is easier to leave the string hanging down from somewhere when tying the bak zhang.
I felt like trying to tie one bak zhang by myself, after looking at my grandma a few times. I have to say that it was not as simple as it looked like, but I guess I did not bad on my first attempt.After that, the bak zhang will be steamed for an hour or two, depending on the texture of the glutinous rice. The time required will be lesser if the glutinous rice is fried a while before it is used to wrap the bak zhang. Finally, it was the moment I had been waiting for. Makan time.My grandma made a myterious drink for me to go with the bak zhang.According to her, it is even better than taking Tongkat Ali.P/S: This entry was inspired by Michelle's entry about the Nyonya version of bak zhang.It is easier to leave the string hanging down from somewhere when tying the bak zhang.