Sanku Sticky Rice Dumplings Introduction
In the Sanku area, aside from farming milkfish, clams are also a major farmed product. Whenever clam harvest season arrives, farm owners purchase meat rice dumplings and milkfish soup to treat the workers as snacks. Green onions and garlic are the main crops of the coastal saline lands, and when they are harvested, field owners also buy meat rice dumplings and milkfish soup for the workers as snacks. Fishing enthusiasts come in the morning to enjoy meat rice dumplings with milkfish soup and take some dumplings with them as snacks to satisfy their hunger later. In Sanku, meat rice dumplings have become synonymous with snacks. Huang Wangshan (born in 1932), after marrying into Sanku, initially ran a general store selling fruits, groceries, and shaved sugarcane. Noticing that there were no food vendors in Sanku and nearby villages, she decided to sell her specialty meat rice dumplings. Sanku's meat rice dumplings are wrapped in bamboo leaves, using old glutinous rice for the filling, which consists of dried shrimp, shallots, salted duck egg yolk, and pork. The preparation involves soaking glutinous rice for over three hours. Dried shrimp is sautéed with shallots and set aside. Pork is stir-fried with soy sauce until cooked and set aside, leaving behind the braising sauce. The soaked glutinous rice is washed, added to the pot with the braising sauce, and mixed with seasonings and five-spice powder before being set aside. Finally, the prepared filling is wrapped in bamboo leaves to form dumplings, which are then boiled until cooked. When customers order, they are steamed to soften, peeled from the leaves, and served in bowls with dipping sauce. The dipping sauce is homemade.
