Many traditional Chinese foods are intended to honor either the gods or divine persons in history. Zong Zi - a glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves - is no exception. It is meant to honor Qu Yuan (340-278 BC.), the pioneer poet of ancient China.
Qu Yuan was a famous poet who was also concerned about the fate of his government. Unfortunately his stature aroused the jealousy of the king, who banished him to a remote area. The poet despaired of the government and its policies. When the state's capital was captured by enemies, he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River (on May 5th according to the Chinese lunar calendar). The Chinese people felt this loss deeply, as he was a much beloved poet. Local folk searched for him in the river, meanwhile dropping dumplings of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves into the river in order to keep the fishes from attacking Qu Yuan's body.
Since that time, it has been customary on this day to enjoy Zong Zi dumplings as a memorial to the patriotic poet. In addition, there is also a festival called the Duan Wu or Dragon Boat Festival. If you ever visit China during the Dragon Boat Festival, you can't miss the nationwide custom of enjoying Zong Zi. You are sure to be impressed with the delicacy of this snack, and with the faint scent of the leaves imprinted on the skin of the dumplings.
I still remember making and enjoying Zong Zi as a child. Along with my brothers and sisters I hovered around the stove, begging to have a taste, unable to wait until they were cooked. We were very eager since the food was made only once a year on May 5th. But now it is quite different. The Chinese Zong Zi is not only made for the Duan Wu Festival. It is available at any time of the year. And local areas have developed their own styles and varieties of dumpling.
The main ingredient of Zong Zi is the glutinous rice. The next most important ingredient is the bamboo or reed leaves which form the wrapping and make Zong Zi distinct from other types of Chinese dumplings. The filling often contains either dates or sweetened red bean paste. These are the ones I once had in my family. I like them much more than the ones with meat but my brother doesn't. He says the meat ones are terrific.
The leading place for the food is Jia Xing, an ancient town in Zhejiang province. Many different types of Zong Zi are made here. At Wu Fang Zhai, a monopolistic food processor, you'll find all the ingredients you need: the dumplings with meat, sweetened bean paste and chestnuts, lotus seeds, dates, and yolk of egg.
If the materials are available to you, it is quite possible for you to make Chinese Zong Zi at home; both for pleasure and maybe also to honor the great poet, Qu Yuan. By the way, in the year 2006 the Dragon Boat Festival happens to fall on May 31st, according to the solar calendar. You'd better prepare a net for the fish.
Here is a recipe for Zong Zi:
(makes ten dumplings)
1. 50 sheets of bamboo or reed leaves
2. Glutinous rice (1 kilogram)
3. Chinese dates (250 grams)
Directions:
1.Soak the rice and the dates 12 hours or more till they are soaked thoroughly.
2.Wash the leaves.
3.A chopping board is necessary for laying out the leaves.
4.Fold the leaves flat at the leafstalk to make a sheet.
5.Hold the sheet, fold it round in the middle and make a funnel till both ends are laid over each other in one direction.
6.Use about 1/10 kg. of rice and 6 dates for each dumpling. The dates must be covered by the rice so that they won't lose too much syrup in cooking.
7.Fold the leaves up to seal the open side of the funnel and tie the bundle with a band made of twisted leaves. Make sure that the bundle is tied neither too tight nor too loose. This helps make sure that the ingredients are well cooked.
8.Put the dumplings in a pot, cover with water and make sure they are pressed and kept still while being boiled.
9.Cooking time: 40 minutes in a pressure cooker; 2 hours in an ordinary pot.
4/12/2000
The author graduated from the Shandong Teacher's University, China, and lives in Shandong province. As a bilingual writer and cameraman, he devotes himself to promoting the exchange of cultures between China and the English world.
Dumplings, Zong Zi 粽子
Dumplings，Zong Zi， 粽子，aretraditional Chinese food available all year round. The demand for zongzi peaked around the Dumpling festival, Duan Yu Jie, 端午， also known as Dragon Boat festival. The dumplings are consumed in memory of Qu Yuan， 屈原, a statesman and poet from the Kingdom of Chu， 楚国， who committed suicide at the invasion of his country by the Qin armies.
Dumplings are made of glutinous rice in the shape of a pyramid, wrapped in bamboo leaves, tied with a string and either boiled or steamed. The stuffing inside the dumpling can be sweet or savory and reflects regional dietary patterns and preferences. Dumplings are often consumed with Chinese tea茶 to aid digestion.
Like the mooncakes, dumplings have a few basic rules relating to the shape and the materials used (mainly glutinous rice as the body). Beyond this, it is up to the creativity of the producers to come up with new and interesting variations of dumplings.
The social dumension of dumplings
The production of dumplings is a collective family effort. The bamboo leaves and materials were sometimes bought weeks ahead. Nearing the festival, most of the family members were activated in the production process to wash the leaves, prepare the glutinous rice, stuffing and in the steaming or boiling process. Some family may even have their secret recipes.
When the dumplings are prepared, they are consumed together as a family and also presented as gifts between neighbors, friends and relatives. The parties involved often give their dumplings as a return gift so that every family ends up with a wide variety of dumplings.
These days, many restaurants and food outlets offer dumplings for sale during the Dumpling festival. Their products are welcomed by families who do not have the time to produce their own dumplings. They buy them for private consumption and as gifts.
As producing of dumpling can be time consuming, a new version of precooked and shrink wrapped dumpling as emerged to meet the needs of the busy consumer.
This preecooked dumpling only needs to be mircowaved and it is ready for consumption.
Varities of dumplings
The different types of dumplings are often distinguished from the color or combination of colors of strings used to tie the dumpling. There are no fix rules to the color and every family or business will have their own color coding patterns.
Dumplings look the same when wrapped in bamboo leaves and when unwrapped, the color may vary slightly depending on the type of glutinous rice used or the cooking process. The main distinguishing factor between dumplings is the stuffing.
The stuffing can be sweet or savory and gives a lot of clues about the background and economic status of the family producing it or the target customers of the restaurant or shop. Vegetarian dumplings are also available for vegetarians. A wealthier family or a restaurant targeting higher end customer will have more expensive and higher quality ingredients. A mass market producer or an average family will use more common ingredients.
Whichever type of dumplings consumed, they contribute to the same process of cultural reproduction. When dumplings are being produced or consumed together, the story of Qu Yuan is almost inevitably told especially if there are children around. In this way, consumption of dumpling becomes a mechanism to consume the collective aspiration of patriotism embodied by Qu Yuan’s history. The continuous production of dumpling and the celebration of the Dumpling festival over successive generations reflect the collective social ideas of Chinese communities.
Comments