MAMA OF ALL MACHANG
A creation of lechon diva Dedet de la Fuente, the Mamachang is a machang lover’s delight
As a kid, just like other Chinoys, I grew up eating authentic Chinese food in Manila’s Chinatown district of Binondo. One of the dishes is machang — savory, sticky rice cooked in a soy-based sauce, wrapped in lotus leaf with morsels of chicken, pork belly, black mushroom, Chinese sausage and chestnut, and then steamed.
It takes on a pyramidal shape and is tied with twine to keep its shape and make it easy to hold. To eat, unwrap the lotus leaf, pour some ketchup and enjoy.
The name machang comes from the Chinese word ma (meat) and chang (dumpling). There is a variation called tauchang, tau for “beans,” so the tauchang has beans among the fillings.
My late dad used to have machang for a hearty merienda in the afternoon. Unable finish one whole serving, he would share a portion with his youngest daughter, who happened to be me.
The machang would also serve as a one-dish meal for lunch or dinner. I have such fond memories of it from my childhood that, upon seeing in a Chinese deli or on the menu of a Chinese restaurant, I find myself ordering it for takeaway.
At home I would steam it — a regular-size one for me and another for my husband Raff. I eat it with tomato ketchup, savoring each spoonful slowly. It is comfort food that always makes me remember my dad.
Recently, I discovered a special kind of machang called mamachang. A creation of lechon diva Dedet de la Fuente, the mamachang is a machang lover’s delight.
The name machang comes from the Chinese word ma (meat) and chang (dumpling).
Double the size of a regular machang, it takes on a cone shape, wrapped in banana leaf and also tied with twine. The sticky rice within opens up to a variety of ingredients including chestnuts, Chinese chorizo, pork bits, mushrooms, salted egg yolk and cashew nuts.
The rice is softer than the regular machang. Dedet made sure that the pork and mushrooms are of the same quantity. Because of its size, one piece should be good for two.
An order from Dedet de la Fuente’s Pepita’s Kitchen consists of two oversized mamachang.
“I wanted my machang to be very special,” Dedet said. The authentic Chinese delicacy played an important role in her life.
She related: “My mom loved it, so I always bought it as a pasalubong for her. From the time I was in high school, whenever I went to Greenhills, I made sure I bought machang for my mom and dad. You see, I grew up getting pasalubong from them, even on ordinary days, so it was also natural for me to give them pasalubong on any day. “It was our simple way of showing our love for each other in the family. Until to two years ago, I would still do it whenever I went to bazaars or visited Chinatown. I would buy three pieces of machang — two for my parents and one for me. “My mom, who had moderate Alzheimer’s disease in the last few years of her life, remembered it as her favorite food. Somehow, that part of her life stayed intact in her memory. She may have forgotten many things, but she remembered her love for machang.”
One day, Dedet decided to make her own machang. She searched the Internet for recipes. Feeling that the stuffing of a regular machang was “medyo bitin,” (insufficient), she knew she wanted her own.
She added more chestnuts and Chinese chorizo, along with pork bits, mushrooms and salted egg yolk in generous amounts as well. “Just when I thought my new machang recipe was done, I counted the ingredients and remembered that my dad’s lucky number is seven, so why not add another ingredient to make it a lucky machang? I added cashew nuts,” says Dedet.
With all those ingredients, her rice dumpling became larger than life, way bigger than the regular machang. She tried packing it like an embutido, but it did not work, so she decided to shape it like a cone, which made it look different from the regular machang, yet still familiar. In search of a name, Dedet decided to call it Mamachang
— because, from the size of it, it would be apt to call it the “Mama of Machangs.”
After three weeks of kitchen tests and sending samples to friends for feedback, Dedet finalized her recipe and started taking orders. The result was overwhelming. Orders poured in and continues to pour in.
Stuffed lechon
That Dedet could reinvent the classic Chinese rice dumpling into something she could call her own comes as no surprise. She has an impressive credibility.
Her Stuffed Lechon, which she submitted as an entry in the Ultimate Taste Test, won the top prize in 2010.
Binagoongan Rice Lechon was her first award-winning stuffed lechon variant. She has since come up with 21 variants, but is actively taking orders for only three: Truffle Rice Lechon, Crab Fat Rice with Spanish Chorizo Lechon, and
Truffle Rice with Foie Gras Lechon. Soon, she will also be accepting orders for a new variant called
Lechon Tagalog Stuffed with Herbs.
From stuffed lechon, she diversified with stuffed chicken and hit gold again, offering Truffle Rice Stuffed Boneless Chicken and Eight-Treasure Chicken.
Other original ideas from Dedet that have become Pepita’s Kitchen bestsellers include
Crab Gulong Gulong (a flaked crabmeat in crab fat sauce dish) and Hiplog (shrimps with salted egg).
Her kitchen experiments have likewise led her to “invent” the Divalicious
Labuyo Sauce, which goes perfectly with
mamachang and any other viand. All became huge successes, with foodies raving about them and ordering them frequently. The Mamachang is no exception, as it continues to amaze machang lovers and give them a whole new perspective on how to enjoy the Chinese delight.
For inquiries and orders, send a text message to 0917-8660662.