traditional Chinese rice-pudding(zong zi )

How to make rice dumplings:

Raw materials for making zongzi:

600 grams of glutinous rice, 400 grams of pork, 50 grams of mushrooms, 80 grams of bamboo shoots, 200 grams of gravy.

Steps of making zongzi:

Dice the pork, marinate it overnight with sugar, soy sauce, refined salt and pepper, soak the glutinous rice for one to two hours, marinate it with gravy, soy sauce and refined salt for two hours after filtering, chop the mushrooms, wrap the stuffing in the leaves of rice dumplings, tie it firmly with straw rope, and cook it in the pot.

traditional Chinese rice-pudding

Zongzi, made by steaming glutinous rice wrapped in Zongye, is one of the traditional festival foods of the Chinese nation. Zongzi appeared as early as before the spring and Autumn period. It was originally used to sacrifice ancestors and gods. In the Jin Dynasty, zongzi became the food for the Dragon Boat Festival. The custom of eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival has been popular in China for thousands of years, and spread to Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

The main materials of zongzi are glutinous rice, stuffing and RUOYE (or Xinye), etc. Due to the different eating habits of different places, zongzi has formed a north-south flavor; from the taste point of view, there are two kinds of zongzi: salty zongzi and sweet zongzi. For thousands of years, Chinese people have soaked glutinous rice, washed leaves and made dumplings on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. As one of the most profound traditional foods in Chinese history and culture, zongzi has been widely spread

According to folklore, eating zongzi is in memory of Qu Yuan, and it is said that zongzi is passed down to commemorate Qu Yuan who threw himself into the river. There are many kinds of zongzi. In terms of filling materials, there are Beijing jujube zongzi with small jujube in the north; in the south, there are mung bean, pork, bean paste, Babao, ham, mushroom, egg yolk and other filling materials, among which Guangdong xianrouzongzi and Zhejiang Jiaxing zongzi are the representatives. In 2012, zongzi was selected as one of the food series of the second episode of the documentary "China on the tip of the tongue".

Historical development

According to records, as early as the spring and Autumn period, with wild rice leaves (Zizania latifolia leaves) wrapped millet into horn shape, known as "millet horn"; with bamboo tube filled with rice sealed roasted, known as "tube Zong". Zongzi is a kind of "Zhen". Zhen is a kind of tribute that people use to worship gods and ancestors during festivals. It is an ancient traditional custom to worship gods and ancestors during festivals. There are many kinds of rice dumplings. Different festivals make different rice dumplings. Rice dumplings are a tribute to the ancestors of gods in the Dragon Boat Festival. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the millet was soaked in plant ash water. Because of the "alkali" in the water, the millet was wrapped in Zizania latifolia leaves into a quadrangular shape and cooked, which was called Guangdong alkaline water dumpling.

The word "Zong" was originally written as "Zong". In the history, the written records related to zongzi can be seen in Shuowen Jiezi written by Xu Shen in Han Dynasty, which is interpreted as "Lu Ye wrapped in rice". In the fengshiji written by Zhou Chu, the governor of Xinping in the Western Jin Dynasty, the word "jiaoshu" is clearly mentioned: "in midsummer, the top five, fangboxieji.". Enjoy millet, turtle scale Shunde Zongzi appeared as early as before the spring and Autumn period. It was originally used to sacrifice ancestors and gods. In the Jin Dynasty, zongzi became the festival food of the Dragon Boat Festival.

It is said that zongzi was born for the sacrifice of Qu Yuan. As early as in the spring and Autumn period, it was called "jiaoshu" when it was wrapped with wild rice leaves into horn shape; it was called "tongzongzi" when it was sealed and roasted in bamboo tube.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the millet was soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contained alkali, the millet was wrapped in Zizania latifolia leaves and cooked. It was called Guangdong alkaline water zongzi. At the same time, there are a small number of stuffing dumplings, the most popular is pork dumplings.

In the Jin Dynasty, zongzi was officially designated as the food of the Dragon Boat Festival. At this time, in addition to glutinous rice, the raw materials for making zongzi also include Yizhiren, a traditional Chinese medicine. The cooked zongzi is called yizhizong. The rice was adulterated with rare poultry and animal meat, chestnut and so on. Zongzi is also used as a gift for communication.

Tang Dynasty: rice dumplings have been "white as jade", the shape of the dumplings appeared cone, diamond. In Japanese literature, there are "Tang zongzi".

In the Song Dynasty, there were "preserved rice dumplings", that is, fruit into the dumplings. Su Dongpo, a poet, wrote a poem "when you see red bayberry in rice dumplings". At this time, there were advertisements made of zongzi piled into pavilions, wooden cars, cattle and horses, which showed that it was fashionable to eat Zongzi in Song Dynasty.

In Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the wrapping material of zongzi changed from Zizania leaf to Indocalamus leaf. Later, zongzi wrapped with reed leaf appeared, with bean paste, pine nut kernel, jujube, walnut and other additional materials, which made the variety more colorful.

Ming and Qing Dynasties: there were zongzi wrapped with reed leaves, with bean paste, pine nut kernel, jujube and walnut as additives. In Qing Dynasty, "Ham zongzi" appeared. In Ming and Qing Dynasties, zongzi became an auspicious food. It is said that at that time, before going to the examination room, all the scholars who took part in the imperial examination had to eat the "pen zongzi" specially made for them by their families. It looked like a brush, and the homonym was "must hit", in order to win a reputation.

Until now, at the beginning of May every year, Chinese people have to soak glutinous rice, wash the leaves and make zongzi. In terms of fillings, in the north, there are many kinds of Beijing jujube dumplings with small jujubes; in the south, there are many kinds of fillings, such as mung bean, pork, bean paste, Babao, ham, mushroom, egg yolk and so on, among which Guangdong salty meat dumplings and Zhejiang Jiaxing dumplings are the representatives. Generally, glutinous rice is wrapped in Ruo shell, but the color of the dumplings depends on local specialties and customs. The custom of eating zongzi has been popular in China for thousands of years, and spread to Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

Form and style

Due to different regions, the materials and leaves of zongzi vary greatly. Even the shape of "wrap" varies greatly. For example, in the early days, people worshipped heaven with ox horn. Therefore, in the Han and Jin Dynasties, zongzi was mostly made into horn shape as one of the things for ancestor worship. In addition, there are regular triangle, regular quadrangle, sharp triangle, square, long and other shapes.

Due to the different eating habits of different places, zongzi has formed a north-south flavor, among which the more famous zongzi are: Beijing zongzi, the representative variety of northern zongzi, Beijing zongzi is larger, inclined quadrangle or triangle. Most of the products on the market are glutinous rice dumplings. In rural areas, still used to eat rice dumplings rhubarb. Beijing zongzi is usually filled with red dates and bean paste, and a few of them are filled with preserved fruits.

The representative variety of Southern zongzi is Guangdong zongzi. The shape of Guangdong zongzi includes pyramid, strip and triangle cone. The main varieties are salted meat dumplings, Jianshui dumplings, bean paste dumplings and so on, among which salted meat dumplings are the most popular. Bacon dumplings are mainly filled with glutinous rice, streaky pork and mung beans, and some are filled with salted egg yolk, mushrooms, shrimps, yaozhu, chestnuts, peanuts, etc. Geographically, Guangdong rice dumplings include Zhaoqing steamed rice dumplings, Taishan rice dumplings, Dongguan Daojiao rice dumplings, Zhongshan Ludou rice dumplings, Chaoshan double cooked rice dumplings, Hakka Huishui rice dumplings and Zhanjiang gelou rice dumplings.

Jiangnan's zongzi is the most famous, and its practice is also complex, especially its stuffing, which varies. One of the major differences between Jiangnan zongzi and Northern zongzi is that most of the glutinous rice raw materials of Jiangnan zongzi are pre soaked in rice straw ash soup and steamed with meat stuffing, which makes it fragrant.

Huzhou rice dumpling is a special strip shape, like a pillow, so it is called "pillow rice dumpling". Because of its long and thin body, concave in the middle, two ends up, beautiful lines, small and elegant, some people call it "beauty rice dumpling". Huzhou dumplings are mostly handmade, and they are very exquisite. They are also made of a variety of materials, such as soy sauce, fresh meat, bean paste, egg yolk and so on. Nowadays, the famous zongzi in Huzhou include zhenyuantong and zhulaozi.

Zongzi in the north are mostly made of glutinous rice, dipped in white or brown sugar.

The most famous zongzi in China is produced in Jiaxing, south of the Yangtze River. As early as the Qing Dynasty, Jiaxing zongzi enjoyed a high reputation. According to historical records, the types and methods of Jiaxing zongzi are as follows

"Bamboo leaf rice dumpling": "take bamboo leaf wrapped with white glutinous rice dumpling and cook it, the tip is like raw cut water chestnut."

"Ai Xiang rice dumpling": "clean the glutinous rice, mix jujube, chestnut and mung bean, soak the rice with AI leaf, and cook in the pot."

"Sweet tea dumplings": "take zhenwushan high-quality sweet tea juice to make dumplings. The color of the dumplings is golden and bright, and the entrance is smooth, tender and soft."

It is thick and fragrant, with sweet aftertaste and rich nutrition

"Bacon sausage dumplings": "small dumplings made of bacon sausage have the flavor of reunion at the entrance."

"Mint flavor rice dumplings": "mint water soaked rice, first steamed soft, mixed with foreign sugar, wrapped in Ruo for small dumplings, and then boiled."

"Bean paste dumplings": "bean paste, sugar, fat, small dumplings cooked."

"Lotus seed dumplings": "peeled heart, mixed with foreign sugar, small dumplings."

"Songren rice dumpling": "small rice dumpling without skin"

"Ham dumplings": "into the ham dumplings, ham to Jinhua, fine fat appropriate.". Also, it's OK to make dumplings with diced meat. "

"Egg yolk dumpling": "the middle yolk, egg yolk must use good eggs, sweet and salty but not offensive."

"Jiuzi Zong": Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, once wrote a poem entitled "banquet officials in the three halls of the Dragon Boat Festival", in which one sentence praises Jiuzi Zong: the flowers compete skillfully in the four seasons, and Jiuzi Zong strives for novelty. Jiuzi zongzi is a kind of zongzi, that is, nine zongzi connected into a string, there are big and small, big in the top, small in the bottom, different shapes, very good-looking. And nine kinds of colors of silk thread, forming a colorful. Most of the nine dumplings are used as gifts for relatives and friends, such as gifts given by mothers to their married daughters and by mothers-in-law to their newlyweds. Because "zongzi" is homonymous for "neutron", there is a custom that people can get sons after eating "zongzi".

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Chinese PinYin : Zong Zi