Sanku Sticky Rice Dumplings Introduction
In the Sanku area, in addition to farming milkfish, clams are also a major aquaculture product. When clams are harvested, the pond owners buy rice dumplings and milkfish soup as snacks for the workers. Green onions and garlic are the main crops in the coastal saline land. When these are harvested, the landowners also buy rice dumplings and milkfish soup for the workers as snacks. Anglers come in the morning to enjoy rice dumplings with milkfish soup, taking a few dumplings as snacks to fend off hunger later. In Sanku, rice dumplings have become synonymous with snacks. Huang Wang-shan (born in 1932) moved to Sanku and initially ran a grocery store selling fruits, groceries, and shredded sugar cane. Noticing that there were no food vendors in Sanku and the nearby villages, she decided to sell her specialty rice dumplings. Sanku rice dumplings are wrapped in bamboo leaves, made with old glutinous rice, and filled with shrimp, shallots, salted duck egg yolks, and pork. The preparation involves soaking the glutinous rice for more than 3 hours. The shallots are sautéed with shrimp, then set aside. The shallots are also sautéed with pork, seasoned with soy sauce, and cooked until done, leaving the marinade. The soaked glutinous rice is washed, added to the pot with the marinade, mixed with seasoning and five-spice powder, and set aside. Finally, the processed filling is wrapped in bamboo leaves to form the dumplings and boiled until cooked. When customers order, the dumplings are steamed soft, unwrapped from the leaves, served in a bowl, and enjoyed with dipping sauce. The dipping sauce is homemade.
