Zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings)
Photo: Dllu · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

Zongzi were once known as jiaoshu for their angular, leaf wrapped shape and originally used millet rather than rice. By the Jin dynasty, eating leaf wrapped dumplings around the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, near the summer solstice, was already an established custom, later tied to the story of the poet Qu Yuan and offerings thrown into the Miluo River after his death. During the Ming and Qing dynasties the dumplings also picked up a good luck meaning around examinations, since brush shaped zongzi sounded like the phrase for certain success. Shanghai's old pastry brands now sell both savoury pork versions and sweet red bean and jujube fillings each year around the festival.

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Common allergens: Egg

Make it at home

Yield Makes about 10Hands-on 1 hrTotal 8 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 500g glutinous rice, soaked for at least 4 hours
  • 20 dried bamboo leaves, soaked and rinsed
  • 400g pork belly, cut into chunks and marinated in 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce and 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
  • 2 salted duck egg yolks, halved (optional)
  • String or kitchen twine, for tying

Method

  1. Drain the soaked rice and toss it with a little of the pork marinade so the grains pick up colour.
  2. Take two bamboo leaves and overlap them, then fold into a cone near the wide end.
  3. Spoon in a layer of rice, add a piece of marinated pork and half a salted egg yolk if using, then top with more rice to cover.
  4. Fold the top of the leaves down over the filling to seal the cone into a triangular parcel and tie tightly with string.
  5. Lower the parcels into a large pot of water, making sure they are fully submerged, and bring to the boil.
  6. Simmer for at least 3 hours, topping up with boiling water as needed, until the rice is fully cooked through.
  7. Lift out and drain, then let them cool slightly before unwrapping.

Tip from the editors. Tie each parcel tightly before it goes in the pot; a loose zongzi lets water in and turns the rice mushy instead of firm.

Where to eat zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings)

Zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings) in Shanghai

Shen Da Cheng ★ 4.2

¥ BakeryShanghainese pastries, qingtuan and dim sumPeoples SquareWalk-in only

Shen Da Cheng on East Nanjing Road in Shanghai has sold glutinous rice pastries, dim sum and spring qingtuan since 1875, with a queue at its street counter.

Worth the queueQingtuan glutinous rice balls

TipIn spring pick red bean paste for the classic qingtuan, or salted egg yolk with pork floss for the savoury one.

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