We Reviewed 6 Bak Chang From The Best Rice Dumpling Brands In Singapore

Tender meat, chestnuts and mushrooms stuffed into savoury, sticky rice and wrapped in bamboo leaves—we’ve been daydreaming of rice dumplings because the Dragon Boat Festival in Singapore is almost here.

Also known as zongzi (in Mandarin) and colloquially referred to as bak chang (in Hokkien), rice dumplings are eaten as part of the festive celebration. Even if you don’t observe Dragon Boat Festival, it’s hard to say no to a good bak chang.

Whether you are looking to indulge your own cravings or gift friends and family, there’s no need to hop from shop to shop across the island to find the best ones. We ate our way through the various bak chang at Takashimaya’s Rice Dumpling Festival so we can tell you which are the best ones worth spending your cash and your calories on.

When is the Dragon Boat Festival?

Also known as duan wu jie, the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, the Dragon Boat Festival falls on June 19, 2026. 

While not an official public holiday, the Dragon Boat Festival in Singapore still holds deep cultural meaning. It is celebrated with dragon boat races and by eating delicious sticky rice dumplings.

What is the Takashimaya Rice Dumpling Festival?

With the Dragon Boat Festival in Singapore fast approaching, vendors are already putting out their rice dumpling lineup. Instead of travelling all over the island to track them down, Takashimaya curates a list of vendors selling the best bak chang in Singapore and brings them together.

From May 19 to June 19, 2026, head over to Food Stop 1, 2 and 3 at the B2 Food Hall at Takashimaya Department Store for your one-stop shop for all things rice dumplings. 

The extensive selection includes traditional zongzi from iconic vendors such as Joo Chiat Kim Choo and Soon Soon Rice Dumpling, as well as luxury offerings from hotels like Shangri-La’s Singapore Shang Palace. 

Aside from bak chang, you’ll find other stores selling snacks such as fermented rice​ wine, nougats and assorted nonya kueh.

Best bak chang at the Takashimaya Rice Dumpling Festival

To help you skip the guesswork on which are the best rice dumplings, we did a taste test to suss out the ultimate must-buys. Here are the dumplings that stood out, in no order of preference.

• Best traditional bak chang: Soon Soon Rice Dumplings’ Salted Egg Dumpling
• Best for spice lovers craving traditional flavours with a twist: D’Bun 利满’s Sizzlin’ Prawn Nonya Rice Dumpling
• Best ‘simple’ bak chang with complex umami flavours: Yan’s Dining’s Shanghai Classic Spanish Pork Belly Rice Dumpling
• Best Nonya chang: Joo Chiat Kim Choo’s Nyonya Rice Dumpling 
• Best rice dumpling with authentic Cantonese flavours: Yumami 粽子王 (Zong Zi Wang)’s Premium Authentic Cantonese Pork Dumpling
• Best for those who love soft, chewy rice: Dough Magic 扑面而来’s Signature Pork Rice Dumpling

Soon Soon Rice Dumplings

Best traditional bak chang

Soon Soon Rice Dumplings’ Salted Egg option ($8.80) is a decadent treasure trove bursting with flavour. Think thick, meaty slices of succulent pork belly, savoury golden salted egg yolk and earthy shiitake mushrooms, packed into a delicious parcel of sticky rice.

Each zongzi has been wrapped in fragrant bamboo leaves, secured with a cotton string and then simmered over a gentle heat for hours. 

The payoff is a flawlessly executed, perfectly seasoned rice dumpling that delivers a truly traditional and nostalgic taste. It’s basically a warm, comforting hug in food form.

Special promotion: Buy 6 get 1 free, available from now till May 31, 2026

Where: Food Stop 3

D’Bun 利满

Best for spice lovers craving traditional flavours with a twist

D’Bun 利满 is a local brand that has made artisanal, traditional foods for over three decades. I got to try their Sizzlin’ Prawn Nonya Rice Dumpling ($6) at the Takashimaya Rice Dumpling Festival.

The tip of the dumpling is tinged a striking blue using blue pea flower dye, a natural colouring commonly found in Peranakan cuisine. And it tastes as distinctive as it looks. From the very first bite, you’ll be instantly hit by the aromatic punch of hei bi hiam.

Fair warning, the dumpling packs a genuine fiery punch and the spice level builds as you eat. But its rice-to-filling ratio is spot on, so you can enjoy the savoury richness of the prawn chilli paste without the flavour being overly salty or spicy. 

Aside from the Sizzlin’ Prawn Nonya Rice Dumpling, D’Bun 利满 has also added two new flavours to their Dragon Boat Festival dumpling lineup—the Mei Cai Braised Pork Dumpling and Black Sesame Kee Zhang.

Special promotion: Spend a minimum of $35 and get 2 free pieces of Black Sesame Kee  

Where: Food Stop 2

Yan’s Dining

Best ‘simple’ bak chang with complex umami flavours

I’m picky with my bak chang, but the Yan’s Dining Shanghai Classic Spanish Pork Belly Rice Dumpling ($7.40) blew me away. At first glance, you might think, “Oh, it’s just meat and rice”. Sure, it looks deceptively simple, but its flavours are arguably the most complex of all the dumplings I tried.

The second you unwrap the bamboo leaf, the incredible aroma hits you. Biting into the rice dumpling, you’ll find it loaded with melt-in-your-mouth Spanish pork belly that has been marinated in their house-made sauce.

Enveloping the meat is soft and beautifully plump glutinous rice, which has perfectly absorbed all of those rich meat juices. If you appreciate a classic recipe done right, this Yan’s Dining rice dumpling is an umami bomb you will love.

Special promotion: Receive a $20 Yan’s Dining dine-in voucher with a $100 minimum spend.

Where: Food Stop 3

Shang Palace (Shangri-La Singapore)

Best luxury rice dumpling for gifting

An honourable mention also goes out to Shang Palace’s Signature Barbecued Pork Rice Dumpling with Yunnan Ham and Conpoy ($33.80).

Weighing a hefty 650g, this dumpling is satisfyingly heavy. It features a premium ingredients mix of aged Yunnan ham, dried scallops, dried shrimp, roasted duck and pork belly, alongside black mushrooms, salted egg yolk, chestnuts, lotus seeds and mung beans.

The dumpling comes frozen when you buy it at the store, so we did not have the chance to try it. But it remains undeniable that this premium bak chang is pure, unadulterated indulgence.

Special promotion: Up to 20 per cent Super Early Bird savings on individual dumplings and 10 per cent off gift sets for purchases made before 31 May 2026, or up to 15 per cent Early Bird savings on individual dumplings and 10 per cent off gift sets before 7 June 2026. 

Where: Food Stop 3

Joo Chat Kim Choo

Best Nonya chang 

I must confess: I’m a huge fan of Joo Chiat Kim Choo’s dumplings. While their Hokkien Rice Dumpling with Salted Egg Yolk ($8) is my regular order, I was excited to try their Nyonya Rice Dumpling ($7).

You can honestly taste how much effort goes into this. I already know that “Singapore’s number one rice dumpling brand” doesn’t take any shortcuts or skimp on quality. To make their bak chang and other rice dumplings, they use 22 ingredients and a careful 21-step process that requires eight days to complete.  

What I particularly liked about this Nonya chang is that it nails that classic Peranakan balance of sweet and savoury. The candied winter melon strips cut through the spiced minced pork belly, so that each bite feels lighter on the palate.

If you’re looking for a gift set that is made to impress, go for the Emperor’s Rice Dumpling ($26.80). It is loaded with premium braised pork belly, dried scallops, chestnuts, lup cheong, salted egg yolk, shiitake mushrooms and gingko nuts.

Special promotion: 5 per cent off a la carte items plus gift sets (terms and conditions apply), available from now till May 31, 2026

Where: Food Stop 2

Yumami 粽子王 (Zong Zi Wang)

Best rice dumpling with authentic Cantonese flavours

The fourth-generation traditional rice dumpling brand from Johor Bahru, Malaysia sees customers snapping up their bak chang every year. One standout favourite is their Premium Authentic Cantonese Pork Dumpling ($12.90).

As someone of Cantonese heritage, I can confirm that the flavours are exactly what my grandma and mum would cook for dinner. It deserves the highest praise I can give ‘outside’ food, “Wahhh, tastes like home-cooked food”. 

Wrapped in bamboo leaves and made by hand, the generously-filled dumpling is stuffed to the brim with succulent, velvety slices of fatty pork, juicy shiitake mushrooms and salted egg yolk.

The glutinous rice is on the firmer side and boasts a chewy, consistent bite I look for in every good rice dumpling; the added mung beans and black-eyed beans provide a nice, textural contrast.

Everything comes together to create a harmonious balance of textures and flavours. This is an absolute winner of a dumpling that you can eat again and again without feeling jelak.

Special promotion: Buy 10 pieces of Alkaline Dumpling and get 1 free piece Mantou; buy 10 pieces of Pork Dumpling and get 2 free pieces of Mantou; Buy 4 Mantou, get 1 free, available from now till May 31, 2026

Where: Food Stop 1

Dough Magic 扑面而来

Best for those who love soft, chewy rice

At the Takashimaya Rice Dumpling Festival, I tried Dough Magic’s Signature Pork Rice Dumpling ($4). For this year’s Dragon Boat Festival, Dough Magic 扑面而来 is serving up zongzi crafted in the traditional style found north of the Changjiang River. 

The savoury, meaty rice dumpling has a softer, more chewy bite than most bak chang Singaporeans are used to. 

That’s because the glutinous rice is stir-fried with various seasonings before the dumpling is wrapped and steamed. The result is rice with denser, distinct grains, which is thoroughly infused with the meat’s oily richness. 

Even with the high-quality ingredients added for the stuffing, the glutinous rice remains the star for me. The Wan-ken glutinous rice is sticky and soft, while not being overly mushy. It yields easily to my fork when I cut through it. 

It makes a wonderful treat to share with elderly family members at home who prefer a softer, easier bite.

Special promotion: -

Where: Food Stop 2

More information on the Takashimaya Rice Dumpling Festival

If you’ve spent at least $50 at the festival, you can redeem a $5 Takashimaya food and beverage voucher (while stocks last) at the Cashier Counter in front of Bacha Coffee at B2. Happy Dragon Boat Festival!

Address: Food Stop 1, 2, and 3 at the Takashimaya Department Store, B2 Food Hall

When: May 19 to June 19, 2026 

Brought to you by Takashimaya