Happy Chinese New Year! Though I won’t be with my family in Houston to trade hong bao or to eat a bunch of dumplings this weekend, I’ll be keeping the festivities alive here in the Great Northwest by devouring some homemade zongzi (pronounced “joong-juh”). I’ve always had trouble describing these things to people until it hit me: these are basically the Chinese versions of tamales!
Instead of masa, we use a sticky rice, and instead of being wrapped in a corn husk, these are wrapped in bamboo leaves, which keeps everything together and also imparts a subtle tea-like taste to the rice. The filling can be anything, though traditionally it always involves a fatty piece of pork belly to keep it luscious. My favorite fillings are shiitake mushrooms, the aforementioned piece of pork belly, cured pork sausage, and a salted duck egg yolk, so that is exactly what I’ve made here.
This incredible recipe from Use Real Butter is one of the tastiest and least fussy recipes I’ve found so far for zongzi! These things do take a bit of prep work to get the rice, meat, and bamboo leaves ready, but it’s not at all complicated. I should also note that while there are excellent tutorials available on the art of wrapping and tying the string around a zongzi, I have never actually paid attention to any of them and just tie it all like a total amateur. And yet they still turn out fine!
Also like tamales, these freeze well for later consumption, which is handy given that you can’t just make a zongzi or two. After making your batch, let them cool down to room temperature, wrap them individually in foil, put them into a freezer-safe bag, and stash them in the freezer until the mood strikes for feasting. To reheat, let it thaw in the fridge until it’s no longer frozen solid, remove the foil (but keep it wrapped in the banana leaf and string!), and then either steam it or (my preferred method) microwave it for about 2-3 minutes. Then, unwrap everything and enjoy!
Zongzi
Barely adapted from Use Real Butter‘s recipe
Yield: 8-12 zongzi, depending on how big you make them
Prep Time: 1 day (overnight soaking for rice) and 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 day and 2 hours
For the filling:
1 lb pork belly, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs fried shallots (sold prepackaged at most Chinese markets)
½ tbs Shiaohsing cooking wine
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp ground black pepper
6 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced into halves
1½ cured Chinese sausages, sliced into ½-inch pieces
6 salted duck eggs, only yolks and sliced in half
For the rice:
3 cups sweet rice (also known as glutinous or pearl rice)
4 tbs vegetable oil
dash soy sauce
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
16-20 dried bamboo leaves
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Soak it overnight in cold water.
Marinate the pork in soy sauce (the 3 tbs amount), fried shallots, Shiaohsing cooking wine, sugar, and black pepper. Keep it all in the fridge in a zip-top bag overnight.
Get a large pot of water boiling and boil the bamboo leaves for about 5 minutes to soften them. Put them in tepid water until you’re ready to use them.
Drain the rice and set aside. In a small saucepan, simmer the pork, marinade, and mushrooms for 30 minutes with the lid on until the pork is mostly cooked through and the marinade has reduced.
In a wok, heat the vegetable oil until it’s shimmering. Add the rice, soy sauce, and black pepper and stir it all to combine.
Wipe off two bamboo leaves and using the base of the leaf, curl it into a cone. Fill it halfway up with the rice, and then place the filling in the middle. Top it with more rice. Pull the top leaves down over the opening of the cone, and make sure there are no holes in the bamboo leaf. Refer to the step-by-step guide above.
Tie it all with butcher string to keep the bamboo leaves intact. Place them into a large pot and cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil and then lower the heat so that it simmers for an hour. Drain them all and serve warm. Of course, remove the string and bamboo leaves before eating!
