[Backlog] On the Pursuit of...

...Happiness Pyramidal Bamboo Leafed Glutinous Rice Dumpling of Pork Meat, Beans and Egg Yolk Filling. Also known as 肉粽 (Rouzong, Bakchang, ちまき).

Just to set up the story, let's go back a few days back in time to 12 June 2013 (Wednesday) when it's just so happens that it's the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in which Duanwu Festival (端午节), also known these days as Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated.  

Despite largely ignorant of its significance in Chinese culture, there's one aspect of Duanwu Festival that I simply can't refuse and that is the consumption of Zongzi or leaf-wrapped glutinous rice dumpling with fillings. As the day goes by and Duanwu Festival related pictures and statuses began to fill up my Facebook timeline topped up with jealously that my younger bro Tate received a bunch from his roommate (grr) I too joined in on the collective yearning for stuffing oneself with pyramidal glutinous rice goodness. I was overwhelmed by the desire to be in tune with the festival and was sort of let down when I discovered my favourite spot of home cook grub that is Excel Point Community Church didn't tuned in for the occasion during their lunch/dinner kitchen (then again what can I expect? They are Christians.) as well as internet research reveals that publicly available bakchang is located quite a distance away from my whereabout.

When my public yearning on status is replied with trace of bakchang within the vicinity, I immediately head out on a hunt for bakchang hopping on 301 to Supertanker Food Court. Unfortunately (but justified because of the occasion), the only stall that sells bakchang and such has sold out. Undeterred, I immediately expanded my search to Pantai Jerejak Pasar Malam which just so happened to be open every Wednesday night but also to no avail. Peckish and disappointed, I picked up other things from two location.

Left to right: Taiwanese Sausage from Supertanker Food Courrt at Taman Lip Sin and Roti Jala from Pantai Jerejak Pasar Malam. Special acknowledgement to Pantai Jerejak Pasar Malam which seems to have more original stalls rather than the same touring group of stall keepers and it has been a long time since I had roti jala with (beef) curry.

Despite the failed (and justifiably futile) first attempt on the Duanwu Festival to search for bakchang, I went back to Supertanker for second time the next day (13 June 2013, Thursday) with Paul hoping that coming in a little earlier would've secure some bakchang. Turns out it was sold out again. It's as if there are no traces of publicly available bakchang within 5km radius from my where about. In the end, I settled for something else yet again, this time the famous Aki Pancake of Supertanker Food Court.

Aki Pancake is famous for its bewildering array of combination that you can get into a piece of apom besides the usual peanut and corn. Just look on the left side and you'll see tuna, crab stick, turkey ham and pineapple. It's like crunchy taco-pizza!

Fast forward a little to Saturday (15 June 2013) in which the pursuit art and culture trails in conjunction of George Town Festival has brought me to among all places, Penang Road/Burmah Road junction before proceeding to Pulau Tikus...which then I remembered that one of the places my research revealed that New World Park Food Court has a stall that does sell bakchang. Off I went on a few hundred metres trek up Burmah Road to New World Park. As I saw bunches of bamboo leafed pyramids hang in front of the stall, my heart is filled with glee.

So I bought two (Rm3.20 per bakchang), one for immediate eating and another for supper. Oh how I missed eating bakchang. While my slightly sore throat (bad diet for the past few days) kinda affected my tasting, it still feel kinda nostalgic as I work through the oily bamboo/pandan leaf to reach the sticky core where the goodness of pork meat is. 

In the end: BAKCHANG GET! That would keep the crave at bay for a while!

Last but not least as a sort of segue from the previous topic, today (Sunday 16 June 2013) happens to be Fathers Day (here's the Google Doodle for it, pick and mix daddy!) and one memory that I am particularly fond of my father (and by extension, parent) is that he's always the gourmet chef of the family that usually cooks for the occasion including of course the making of homemade bakchangs. Good thing that we have large bushes of pandan at the backyard of our home which makes great wrapping material (substitute for bamboo leaf) for bakchang and my parent will always sit at the kitchen with a huge pail/bowl of glutinous rice, beans and meat, wrapping it one by one into bunches of bakchang which then boiled slowly in steel boiler that we used to have for our kolo mee stall once upon a time, always at the car porch. We spent days eating up all the bakchang reserves as breakfast and teatime and snack. Judging from the silence from my two other brothers at home not to mentioned we have  cemented our backyard as a part of my dad and bro backyard kopitam business venture that we didn't get to do homemade bakchang this year...how many of childhood memory has gone I wonder.

Epilogue: I have productivity issues with procrastination as the perpetual wrench in the work.