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The Zongzi or Rice dumpling () is a traditional Chinese food, to which the Mesoamerican tamal is similar. In California where there are large Chinese descent and Hispanics population, it is often called Chinese tamales on the menu. Many other Asian cultures also claim these rice dumplings as traditional dishes. In Cantonese, these rice dumplings are called "Joong." In Taiwan, the meat version is "bah-tzang" whereas the vegetable version is "tsai-tzang." Laotians and Vietnamese also have a similar dish.
Origins
The origins of rice dumplings are traced to the Chinese legend of Qu Yuan, a well-loved patriot poet who drowned himself in a river called "Mi Luo", due to the imminent fall of his country Chu, which was one of the ancient Chinese kingdoms. To prevent the fish in the river from eating his body, people made rice dumplings and threw them into the river.The origin of zongzi Another version of the legend states that the dumplings were made to placate a dragon that lived in the river.
Rice dumplings are made for the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar.
Filling and cooking methods
The fillings for the dumplings vary from region to region but the rice used is always glutinous rice (also called "sticky rice"). Depending on the region, the rice may be precooked or only soaked before using. Fillings may be sweet, such as mashed yellow (mung) beans, or savoury, and may include pork, sausages, Chinese mushrooms, salted egg, and chestnuts. Some types of zongzi contain no filling at all, in which case they are usually eaten with sugar or syrup.
The rice dumpling is usually a pyramid of rice which encloses the filling and wrapped in dried (or more rarely fresh) leaves. Bamboo leaves are perhaps the most common, but lotus, maize, banana, canna, Alpinia zerumbet and Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius) leaves are not unknown. Wrapping a dumpling neatly is a skill which is passed down through families, as are the recipes. Dumpling-making is usually a family event with everyone helping out.
The dumplings need to be steamed or boiled for several hours and one superstition says that dumplings will never cook if a pregnant woman enters the kitchen whilst they are being steamed.
Dumplings may also be frozen for later consumption, but must be boiled instead of steamed when stored in this fashion.
The salty zongzi is easy to cook when compared to the most difficult and hardest zongzi, the red bean (sweet).
The red bean zongzi takes many hours to prepare. The red bean used to make the filling must be slowly cooked and simmered for at least 12 hours to turn the hard beans into a soft sweet paste. Any disruption of any kind in the cooking process will end up in a zongzi that is subpar.
Miscellaneous
In 2005, the earliest zongzi ever found in China was discovered in a 700 year old tomb in De'an County, Jiangxi Province.Oldest traditional food found in 700-year-old tomb in E. China
Chinese authorities issued zongzi health warnings for the 2006 Dragon Boat Festival due to copper compounds being used to enhance the color of the leaves used for wrapping in some factories.Warning issued over toxic zongziChina warns of poisonous Dragon Boat dumplings
There are many shape forms of rice dumpling.
See also
References
External link
Dumplings | Chinese cuisine | Rice dishes | Chinese terms | Singaporean cuisine
"Zongzi"