Alice Liyun Tan of Nanning, PRC says "Glutinous Rice Dumpling is a traditional food for a Chinese festival - Duanwu, the Dragon Boat Festival. It is basically steamed glutinous rice (or sticky rice in some countries like Thailand and Hong Kong) wrapped, traditionally, in bamboo leaves. There are many different types of rice dumplings from different Chinese heritage, and what follows is a Cantonese style, savoury, white basic type that my friend’s late grandmother used to make."
Outer wrapping:
40 pieces special Zhong leaves (dried bamboo leaves, can be obtained from some Chinese supermarkets), soaked overnight, drained
A bundle of plant-based string (can be obtained from some Chinese supermarkets), soaked overnight
800g (1¾ lb) glutinous rice, soaked overnight and drained.
While traditional Chinese zongzi are wrapped in bamboo leaves, the leaves of lotus, maize, banana, canna, shell ginger or pandan leaves are sometimes used as substitutes in other cultures. Each kind of leaf imparts its own unique smell and flavour to the rice.
Main Filling:
400g (14 oz) pork, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons groundnut oil
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1½ tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon 5-spice powder
A pinch of sugar
A pinch of salt
A pinch of ground white pepper
10g (½ oz) dried prawn
Other Fillings:
200-300g (7-11oz) shelled/halved mung bean, soaked overnight and drained
10 Chinese mushrooms, soaked and thinly sliced
4 salted egg yolks, mashed
Marinate the pork in light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, 5-spice powder, sugar, salt, and pepper for about 3 hours.
Heat the groundnut oil in a wok or deep saucepan, and fry the marinated pork together with the marinade.
Pour it into a medium bowl and let it cool down.
Take 2 pieces of Zhong leaves, line one on top of another, fold them from the middle and twist both ends up to form a cone/triangular pouch.
Fill the pouch with 2 tablespoons of glutinous rice, top with 1 tablespoon each of fried pork and mushroom, then about a tablespoon of mung bean, and 1 teaspoon salted egg yolk.
Complete the routine with 2 tablespoons glutinous rice, hold the pouch tight and close the leaves. Tie it with the string to make sure the dumpling is securely wrapped and no spill.
Repeat the steps till all ingredients are used up.
Half fill a large deep pot with water, bring it to a boil. Put the wrapped dumplings into the water, then top up more water to cover all dumplings.
Add a teaspoon of salt into the water and keep boiling it for about 3 to 4 hours.
Drain the cooked dumplings and serve hot.
Versatility Note:
You can add onion and garlic when frying the pork.
To make sure no rice would spill out from the leaf wrapping, check all corners so that they are really tight.
Glutinous rice can be quite heavy for those who have indigestion, so make sure you don't overindulge on that, and balance it with Chinese tea or green tea.
We support this site using affiliate marketing as a way to earn revenue. All the ads, and many of the links mentioning other products, services, or websites are special links that earn us a commission when you use or pay for their product/service.
