Nani showed me how to make joong at her house today. Last month I was with her when she bought a whole bunch of eggs in flats. She said they were to make hahm dahn, or salted eggs, for joong. I began salivating.
“You know how to make joong?!” I asked. Coincidentally, my cousin Tim had just issued a joong cook-off challenge to his cousins via Facebook, but most had no idea what he was talking about!
Nani said she has made joong every year for 60 years starting from the time her mother taught her. At choir practice last week I asked how the hahm dahn were coming along, hinting that I wanted to see the production.
Joong is a Chinese festival food—a pouch of soft, sticky, sweet rice hiding savory morsels pork, peanuts, and a salted egg yolk. At least the way Nani makes them.
I recall my mother treating joong as special food. Nani said Chinese people eat joong for Boat Day in the spring although she makes it more often, and that joong represented an anchor—something heavy that stuck to the bottom of your stomach. Could be, I thought, but joong is also delicious.
Today Nani and her three sisters Corinne, Barbara, and Rae and her cousin Eva were already gathered around the modern kitchen island when I arrived. Each had her own set up. Each had started soaking chicken eggs in brine 30 days ago. What they made today they took home to boil for 6 hours. After cooling in the cooking water overnight they will be ready to eat or freeze for later enjoyment.
As with most Chinese recipes, much goes into preparation before cooking. Last night Nani softened the bamboo leaves that she bought in Chinatown by heating them in boiling water. She soaked the peanuts and the glutinous rice. She marinated cubes of belly pork with Hawaiian salt and Chinese five spices. Just prior to assembling the joong, she cracked the salted eggs into a bowl.
There are similar rice pouch type foods – of Chinese and other ethnic origins – of other shapes, using other kinds of outer leaves, using other fillings, but according to my joong mentor, those are not joong.
I can hardly wait to taste our efforts. Thank you, Nani, for sharing your family joong-making day with me!
This metal form makes it easy to assemble the joong. You build an upside-down pyramid starting with 3 bamboo leaves inserted a certain way.
The process starts with soaking eggs in brine at least 30 days in advance. These are chicken eggs. You may also use duck eggs that would be more of a delicacy. These eggs are tan because Nani added tea to the solution. (Aha! Chef’s secret?!)
Once the bamboo leaves are in place, top sides touching the food, add a serving spoon of rice, the hahm dahn yolk (discard the whites), two pieces of marinated pork, and a few peanuts. Top with two serving spoons of the rice to cover the filling you see here. Then fold both long sides of the leaves over as if gift wrapping a box, followed by the short sides. Secure with string.
More finished bundles will go into this pot. Add water to cover and set to boil and simmer for 6 hours.
P.S. Nani said the following book most closely describes their family’s way to make joong. In it, the recipe is entitled “Savory Jeng.”
Every Grain of Rice by Ellen Blonder and Annabel Low. Clarkson N. Potter Inc./Random House, 1998. ISBN 0-609-60102-4
Rebekah’s Studio 
I’ll try! Look at the first photo: two leaves are placed lengthwise inside the form, one each on each side of the long side. They MUST overlap at the ends. On one end it is “over-under,” and on the opposite end it is “under-over” so it is as though you are weaving. There should be a gap or space where you can still see the pointed part of the pyramid form. For the third leaf, look at the fourth photo: Roll the third leaf into a cone shape, with the mid point of the long edge forming the tip. Poke the cone upside down into the form and to cover the first two leaves. You may have to hold everything in place with one hand while you spoon in the rice filling. Hope this helps!
Can teach me how to arrange the bamboo leaves to get the shape?
Gale, we made joong again in December, and someone brought a commercial mold. She found it at The Wok Shop on Grant Avenue in San Francisco. It is a square-based mold and priced at less than $15 each. Ask for helpful Tane Chan, who said only Hawaii people have been asking for them.
That is a good question! You are not the first person to ask it, and I do not know the answer. My friend Nani who showed us how to make joong says hers came from a church member who made them. My foodie friends say to check well-stocked stores in Chinatown. You might also ask at Chinese bakeries that sell (and presumably make) joong where to find them. If you look at my photo closely, perhaps you could make some yourself. The closest product I found online were pyramid molds for baking, and these were for a square base and one point at the top (not the same).
where can I purchase molds
Thanks again, Nani! I see that after the water comes to a rolling boil, you can turn the fire down & cover. Just make sure bubbles still rise to the surface. As the food simmers the water level in the pot will go down, so add water from time to time to keep the joong submerged.
Glad you were able to join us yesterday . . . I really think 5 to 6 hours is very sufficient [amount of time to boil the joong]. Corinne did hers for only 3 hours and they were fine. I don’t know whether the fact that she had only 12 made a difference. The reason why I leave them in the pot to cool is that they are so fragile when really hot. I prefer to remove them by hand, because prongs tend to tear the leaves.