Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings)

Introduction

Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are always eaten in Duanwu (Dragon Boat Festival). They are cooked by steaming or boiling. In the Western world, they are also known as rice dumplings or sticky rice dumplings.

The rice is usually mixed with different fillings dependent on the region within China you are eating a zongzi from. Cantonese style savoury fillings including Char Siu (barbecued pork), Chinese sausages, black mushrooms, salted eggs, chicken, cooked peanuts or chestnuts, and taro (Kho, 2009). The Beijing population likes their zongzi to be filled sweeter ingredients such as red bean paste or dates (Kho, 2009). Better known in Western culture as the Chinese Tamale or Rice Dumplings, they are cooked by steaming or boiling in water for several hours (Li & Hsieh, 2004). They are usually wrapped in a pyramidal way and can easily be eaten and held in your hands.

Origins

Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) are traditionally eaten during the Duanwu Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar (approximately late-May to mid-June).

A popular belief amongst the Chinese of eating zongzi involved commemorating the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet from the kingdom of Chu who lived during the Warring States period. Known for his patriotism, Qu Yuan tried unsuccessfully to warn his king and countrymen against the expansionism of their Qin neighbors. When the Qin general Bai Qi took Yingdu, the Chu capital, in 278 BC, Qu Yuan's grief was so intense that he drowned himself in the Miluo river after penning the Lament for Ying. According to legend, packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent the fish from eating the poet's body.

Description

The shapes of zongzi range from being approximately tetrahedral in northern China to an elongated cone in southern China. Wrapping a zongzi neatly is a skill that is passed down through families, as are the recipes. Making zongzi is traditionally a family event of which everyone helps out.

While traditional zongzi are wrapped in bamboo leaves, the leaves of lotus, maize, banana, canna, shell ginger and pandan leaves sometimes are used as substitutes in other countries. Each kind of leaf imparts its own unique smell and flavor to the rice.

The fillings used for zongzi vary from region to region, but the rice used is almost always glutinous rice (also called "sticky rice" or "sweet rice"). Depending on the region, the rice may be lightly precooked by stir-frying or soaked in water before using. In the north, fillings are mostly red bean paste and tapioca or taro. Northern style zongzi tend to be sweet and dessert-like. Southern-style zongzi, however, tend to be more savory. Fillings of Southern-style zongzi include salted duck egg, pork belly, taro, shredded pork or chicken, Chinese sausage, pork fat, and shiitake mushrooms.

Zongzi need to be steamed or boiled for several hours depending on how the rice is made prior to being added, along with the fillings. However, as the modes of zongzi styles have traveled and become mixed, today one can find all kinds of zongzi at traditional markets, and their types are not confined to which side of the Yellow River they originated from.

In modern times, one can usually find zongzi in food markets as well as street carts strewn around Asia. It is a popular snack amongst travelers who want a taste of authentic Chinese food. While they are readily available through these means, zongzi are also in high demand when the Dragon Boat festival occurs each year, when it is traditional to eat the rice dumplings (Simonds & Swartz, 2002).

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