Making Zongsi with the Ayi

I have really been cooking up a storm these past few weeks, but seem to not be able to find the extra time to put the results out here! So, today I will put a few posts out specifically targeted at the recipes and cooking here in Shanghai.

A few weeks ago was the Chinese Dragon Boat festival which, as most holidays in China, has a rich history associated with it. This festival is in commemoration of Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). Qu Yuan was minister of the State of Chu and one of China's earliest poets. Long story short, he died in a river and people threw Zongzi (pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves) and eggs into the water to divert possible fish or shrimp from attacking his body. So, the Chinese make and consume the Zongzi during the festival. Sort of like making Christmas cookies for Santa I guess! I had never really tried them, so I asked the Ayi to show me how to make them. So we did! The recipe for the dumplings is actually quite straight forward. Note that I didn't really give good measures here, I think it depends a lot on the number you are making. The amounts I listed made the 10 or so that we finished. I uploaded some videos of her wrapping and I think you can see how complicated it is to wrap. It is generally in a shape of a tetrahedron, which means it is a four-faced triangle. For the engineers reading, got take a look and go for it! The Ayi told me that it took many years for her to wrap on her own. She was 30 before she could do well. So, I guess I have to make these for another 18 years until I can do it on my own (she was 12 when she first helped her mother make them!). They actually do taste quite good. There are dessert versions as well, with dates or other dried fruit in them. I didn't like the sweet ones as well as the savory, they seemed too sweet.

Oh, and one final lesson I learned. I learned to use my rice cooker for something other than cooking plain rice! We used it to steam the ZongZi. We placed the Zonzi into the metal bowl where the rice and water usually go and filled it with water. Cool. Also, the Ayi saw that I was going to hard boil an egg and talked me into adding the raw eggs (in the shell) to the cooker too. The eggs were cooked along with the ZongZi and the flavor that the bamboo leaves imparted on the eggs was really good. I recommend everyone trying their rice cooker for more than just rice! I think of it as a Chinese crock pot!

Enjoy!
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Pork ZongZi (Steamed Rice Dumplings)

1 1/2 Cup Glutenous Rice (also known as "sticky rice")

1/2 Cup Dark Soy Sauce

1/2 lb Pork (should be something fatty to ensure it is moist when cooked, we used Pork Butt)

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp Chicken granules

Bamboo Leaves for wrapping (takes at least four leaves per dumpling)

- Before using bamboo leaves, they will need to be washed 2-3 times. Let them soak in the sink in clean water and use your fingers to wipe off any dirt. After washing, let them dry. You can do this before you start the rest of the recipe to ensure the moisture is dry before folding into ZongZi.

Wash and drain rice well. Add enough soy sauce to ensure that all grains are well coated. Slice the pork into 1/2 inch cubes, distributing the fat! Pour remaining soy sauce onto cubed pork. Let the the rice and pork soak separately in this sauce for a couple of hours. Add sugar to rice and stir. Add chicken stock granules to rice and mix. Pour off excess soy sauce from pork into the rice mixture. Mix rice well. Now for the wrapping...

Not sure what to say here as it was pretty complicated. Start with three leaves placed in overlapping style. Place a fourth leaf directly in the middle. Fold the first corner of the tetrahedral being sure to keep it closed at the point so that the filling does not ooze out. Then place in a tablespoon or so of of the rice mixture into the cup that is formed. Place a piece of pork on top in the middle and then more rice to the top of the rim of the leaves. press down to ensure that it is firm and then fold the leaves over the top and around to complete the tetrahedral. Then use some string to tie it. There. Doesn't that sound easy? Moving on...

Once you have made them you can cook them in a steamer or a rice cooker. We used our rice cooker. She cooked them for about an hour in the "cook" position, turned them over, and then cooked them for another hour in the "cook" position. Then she turned the cooker to "warm" and left them until we were ready to eat. They were very moist and the pork had really cooked perfectly. The taste of the rice was not bland at all which is what I had expected. So, except for the wrapping, I would love to do these again!