ZONGZI

ZONGZI

#SIAintheKitchen

It’s been a while sine I’ve had zongzi. Zongzi is a Chinese rice dumpling that’s typically filled with glutinous sticky rice, pork belly, chestnuts, salted egg yolk, shiitake mushrooms and dried shrimp. The dumpling, typically eaten in mid to late-May for the Dragon Boat Festival has a rather interesting history and is rooted in tradition.

I’m only a quarter Chinese with no real roots to my Chinese heritage. My ex, Juan, who was half Chinese, had an aunt who always used to make these from scratch and gift them to us. They were the best when fresh but she always gave us a bag of it which we threw into the freezer for a tasty and quick meal for later snacking.

I had forgotten about this for a while (that was 7 years ago!) until I bought some bamboo leaves for making lo mai gai. I had gotten so tired and sick of making lo mai gai that after making 7 of them, I just threw the rest in my rice cooker and called it a day. Making anything with bamboo late at night is a mistake - you heard it here first! Problem was that I had a bunch of bamboo leaves that were still soaking. And you know how I feel about waste. Yes, it the entire bag was only $3 (and I had a lot left) but I wanted to still make use of it. I then remembered zongzi and decided to try my hand at making it.

Now, my version is pescatarian. It’s a fusion version in terms of filling which honestly turned out so much better than I thought! It’s typically filled with pork belly and shiitake mushrooms but can also include salted egg yolk, dried shrimps, chesnuts, peanuts and more. I made my based on what I had in my pantry and fridge and also reminiscent of what Juan’s aunt used to make us. Hers had broad beans in it. Or a bean of some sort that they used to grow. It was yellow.

So, by no means is mine a traditional recipe but hey, it’s a dumpling and dumplings can be filled with anything right!?

It can be a little time consuming to make this so a little pre-planning in advanced may help. Soaking your rice, bamboo leaves, dried shrimps, lentils, shallots and shiitakes beforehand is key. My folding is god awful but once you get in the groove, it’s pretty therapeutic.

ZONGZI - makes 12 zongzi

• 12 kitchen string, enough to tie the dumplings, 20” long each

• 24 bamboo leaves, submerged and soaked in hot water for at least 1 hour

• 1 heaping cup dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for at least 1 hour

• 1/4 cup dried shrimp, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes

• 1/2 cup dried shallot, soaked in hot water for at least 1 hour

• 1/4 cup dried green lentils, soaked in water for at least 4 hours

• 4 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 small white onion, diced

• 6 garlic cloves, minced

• pinch dried red chili flakes

• 1/4 cup preserved bamboo shoots

• 1/4 heaping cup kimchi

• 1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 2 cups mushroom-shrimp soaking liquid

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1 tbsp cornstarch

• dash white pepper

Soaking your ingredients:

• Wash your rice to rid of any dirt a few times with cool water. Once clean, soak your rice for atleast 2 hours and set aside.

• Bamboo leaves must be submerged in a large bowl. Place a plate or cup that’s heavy enough to weigh it down. Bamboo leaves will need to be soaked atleast 1 hour prior to cooking.

• In another small bowl, soak the mushrooms and shrimp together with hot boiling water. Cover with a plate and set aside.

• Soak the lentils in a separate bowl and as well as the dried shallots.

Making the filling:

• Drain all the ingredients that have been soaking. Chop your shiitake mushrooms, dried shallots, and dried shrimp.

• In a wok or medium-sized pan, heat the vegetable oil until glistening on medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and chili flakes and fry until fragrant, about 1 - 2 minutes. Add in the mushrooms, shallots, shrimp and green lentils. Pour in the soy sauce and allow for the filling mixture to caramelize, about 3 minutes.

• Gradually add in the mushroom soaking liquid, leaving about 1/2 cup. Keep stirring and allow the liquid to absorb and evaporate. Mix the remaining 1/2 cup of soaking liquid with the cornstarch until dissolved. Add this slurry into the pan and stir. There should be no liquid remaining left in the pan. Dash the white pepper and mix thoroughly. Turn off the heat and allow for it to cool.

• In a separate saucepan, drain the rice and fry the rice with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil for 2 - 3 minutes until fragrant. Stir to prevent from sticking. Remove from heat and set aside.

• I then mixed the rice and the sautéed filling together, leaving small clumps of white rice.

Assembly:

• Once you are ready to assemble, trim the end of the bamboo leaves so that the base is flat. Find 2 bamboo leaves around the same size and layer the bases so that the pointy ends of the leaves face right and left, horizontally. Rotate and slightly fold the leaves into a cone shape. The leaves should be overlapping and should be in northeast and northwest position. Begin to fill the cone with some of the filling. Put some kimchi and bamboo shoots in the middle and top up with more filling.

• Fold the leaves over and around in a tight bind. I like the bite down on one end of the kitchen string to secure a firm hold as I tightly wrap the string around the zongzi. Lastly, tie and double knot the strong around the zongzi and set aside. Repeat until all of the filling and bamboo leaves are used up.

Cooking:

• Place the zongzi in a large pot and cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil and then drop down to a rolling simmer over low. Cook for 3 hours. Consume immediately or allow the zongzi to cool down and stick in the freezer.