Text and Photographs by Ann Peng

With introduction from the Editor

Food brings back fond cultural memories for all of us, no matter what age we are living in! From our Contributors Circle, renowned culinary instructor Ann, shares with us a childhood favourite of hers — rice dumplings (in Taiwanese style). Not only delicious, this traditional staple is also simple to make. This recipe is from history that dates back centuries ago, and is now rooted in our modern culture through the home kitchens of millions around the world. We invite you to share your favourite food memories or recipes to celebrate our culture by emailing us at info@fetechinoise.com.  

暖心的食物是記載歷史的秘訣。知名烹飪老師Ann 與我們分享她與丈夫兒時最愛的台灣棕子食譜，不僅易做，還帶回了美好的回憶。如果你也有快樂的美食回憶或家傳食譜，我們邀請你一起分享，電郵至 info@fetechinoise.com。

雖然端午佳節還有將近一個星期才到來，想了很久還是先把影片分享給大家，這樣確保才有足夠的時間準備各種食材。住在國外最怕缺東缺西，加上疫情期間，最好一次採買完成，能不出門就不出門，雖然打了疫苗，還是不能鬆懈下來。

【SOUTHERN TAIWANESE RICE DUMPLINGS 台灣南部粽】

My husband is a native of Pingtung, Taiwan. The rice dumplings that he ate at childhood were all wrapped with a special kind of leaves from the shell ginger plant. Shell ginger leaves have a special fragrance, which adds a very distinctive, pleasurable flavor to the rice dumplings, making this a unique Pingtung delicacy. In my modified version, I shared the popular southern Taiwanese style rice dumplings — the difference from his Pingtung favourite is that mine uses the ordinary bamboo leaves, the rice has been marinated in a special sauce, so the tastes will be slightly saltier and heavier than the Pingtung rice dumplings. After the long-boil, the saltiness is reduced significantly.  This southern style is more refreshing than the northern traditional style.  Though, he’s a bit disappointed, as the dumplings do not have that shell ginger leaves fragrance, but he’s satisfied with the alike fillings - which brings back many childhood memories of his. 

我家老公是道地屏東人，從小到大吃的粽子都是月桃葉包出來的，月桃葉有一股特殊的清香，給粽子添加了另一種風味，是一種特有的屏東粽。我這次做的是市面上最常見的南部粽，和他的屏東粽的區別是用一般粽葉，並且米粒有用醬汁醃過，所以是有鹹味的，口味比屏東粽稍重，但是因為水煮之後，鹹味減少不少，比北部粽又清爽一點。實在沒辦法取得月桃葉，讓他十分的失望，只好用差異不大的內餡彌補他，內餡裡面包入種類眾多的食材，筷子一夾下去，看到滿滿的料，心情就頓時變好了。

【HUZHOU RICE DUMPLINGS 鹹甜湖州粽】

For me, among all versions of rice dumplings, my favourite is definitely the Huzhou style rice dumplings — it is available in both sweet and salty and are absolutely delicious. Here are two videos to show you how to make these childhood favourite of mine! 

我自己從小吃湖州粽長大，不論鹹甜，湖州桂花紅豆粽又或湖州鮮肉粽， 也是我的最愛！去年有有拍過影片介紹如何製作，有興趣的朋友可以參考下面的連結。

Hope you feel inspired to give Ann’s recipe a try! Leave a comment below or tag @fetechinoise on Instagram if you’ve made this dish. We’d love to hear from you!

About the writer, Ann Peng

I’m in love with cooking at very young age - all thanks to the inspiration by my mother's superb cooking skills and the delicacies by my grandma. After immigrating to Toronto, my children often craved for authentic Taiwanese cuisine, and I often searched the Internet for the best recipes to satisfy their palates.  Due to limitation of resources, these recipes were often modified or recreated and simplified.  Years ago, I started my own YouTube channel “Ann’s Kitchen” and my private cooking school to share these recreated classic recipes with mothers like myself. I hope to inspire many more to bring that old time home tastes for their children and their loved ones.

因深受母親高超的烹飪技巧啓迪，又受婆婆美味佳餚的誘導，愛上全台名廚大師的經典課程，勤作筆記。在多倫多時，因需時常滿足兒女懷念台灣美食的殷盼請求，上網搜索各種名餚餐點的烹煮方式，自創出獨特的食譜配方，並錄製剪輯調理過程，無私地發佈於「在加在家」部落格作分享。 經過熱情粉絲不斷要求，成立 Ann's Kitchen 私塾，初心在於彼此交流家常料理心得，繼而指導烘焙各式糕點甜品、創意調製各國風味餐飲，期待日後能將之集結成册，留存嘉惠子孫，達成「愛吃什麼、自己就能做出有媽媽味道」的美食料理，療癒異鄉遊子思親心情的初衷。