But pulling back the leaves will unveil a harmonious colour combination of blue from butterfly pea flowers, caramel and a tinge of white.
A quick slice down the middle will reveal a treasure trove of juicy marinated pork with candied winter melon, which lends a subtle sweetness to the taste.
This is Nyonya chang, a non-halal Peranakan delicacy that is getting harder and harder to find as it is laborious to prepare.
But childhood friends – Aprel Lim and Yoke Ling, both 41 years old – and co-owners of BLOKS Private Kitchen have made it their mission to reintroduce this special Peranakan delight to the world.
“My mother-in-law is a pure Hainanese from Melaka and, like many Hainanese, she is known for her cooking skills,” Aprel told FMT.
“The idea behind BLOKS Private Kitchen is to ensure that the recipes she has perfected over the years are not lost.”
These two friends, who enjoy nothing better than a plate of good food and cooking up a storm, decided that the Movement Control Order (MCO) was the perfect time to kick off the kitchen venture they had been thinking about for a while.
Plus, Aprel’s waxing business had been going through tough times due to the pandemic, so there really was no better time to pursue this wonderful idea.
“Originally, the idea was to offer private dining but due to the Covid-19 restrictions, this cannot happen just yet. But our Nyonya chang is one of our more special recipes and has been extremely popular among family members and friends,” said Aprel.
Many traditional ingredients used to prepare Nyonya chang: premium pork cuts, glutinous rice, butterfly pea flowers, coriander powder, candied winter melon and mushrooms.
Though it seems simple in theory, making Nyonya chang is not an easy task at all.
Aprel explained that this little glutinous rice dumpling takes almost two days to prepare because of the number of steps involved – from prepping the bamboo leaves and soaking the rice, to boiling the butterfly pea flowers to release their beautiful shade of blue.
A typical day for Aprel and Yoke Ling will have them both start work at 9am.
They start by preparing the mushrooms and candied winter melon before they proceed to dice the meat.
All in all, the laborious process takes as long as 10 to 12 hours and will yield up to 100 packets of chang a day.
Aprel confesses that it took a lot of trial and error to perfect the recipe and get the thumbs-up from her mother-in-law. Plus, making the perfect chang requires patience and acute attention to detail.
“The chang needs to be placed in a pot of water and boiled for four hours, and if you don’t wrap it properly, the ingredients will spill out. We would sit around the pot and watch the chang boil and celebrate every time they didn’t break,” laughed April.
“Ever since we started selling chang in August, we have been so blessed because each time we follow up with a customer we get really good feedback. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.”
Each handmade Nyonya chang is sold for RM8.
Customers living in Bangsar and Damansara Heights will be pleased to know there is no delivery charge as Aprel herself does the deliveries either on her bicycle or during her run. For those living elsewhere, delivery fees are charged accordingly.
Those who had the chance to taste Aprel and Yoke Ling’s Nyonya chang previously will be delighted to know that they have recently increased the amount of pork and used chunks of juicy pork instead of shredded meat to make the chang even tastier.
Anyone who has been craving a homemade Nyonya chang, or is curious to try this delicacy, can look for BLOKS Private Kitchen on Facebook or Instagram, or WhatsApp (012) 901 6205.