← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 30 Dried bamboo leaves (for zongzi)
• 600 g Glutinous (sticky) rice
• 150 g Split, skinned mung beans
• 400 g Pork belly, cut into 12 chunks
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce, for the pork
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp salt, for the pork
• 12 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and stems removed
• 6 salted duck egg yolks, halved
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce, for the rice
• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tsp salt, for the rice and beans
• 2 tbsp neutral oil

Method

1. The night before, soak the rice and mung beans in separate bowls of cold water. Mix the pork with the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, five-spice, sugar and salt and chill it overnight. Soak the bamboo leaves in water too, weighted down.
2. Next day, drain the rice and mix it with the soy sauces, oyster sauce, half the salt and the oil. Drain the beans and toss with the rest of the salt. Scrub the bamboo leaves clean and trim the stems.
3. Overlap two leaves, fold them into a cone and put in 1 tbsp rice, 1 tbsp beans, a piece of pork, a mushroom and half a yolk. Cover with another 1 tbsp beans and 2 tbsp rice.
4. Fold the top of the leaves down over the filling and around the sides to make a tight, four-cornered parcel. Tie it firmly with kitchen string. Repeat to make 12.
5. Put the zongzi in a large pot, cover with boiling water by 5 cm and weigh them down with a plate. Simmer for 3 hours, topping up with boiling water so they stay submerged.
6. Lift them out and let them rest for 10 min before unwrapping. Eat warm, with a drizzle of soy sauce if you like.

Tips

• Cooled zongzi keep a week in the fridge or 3 months frozen; reheat by steaming or simmering for 20–30 minutes.
• Practise the fold with an empty leaf first; a loose parcel lets water in.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Omnivore's Cookbook Taste of Asian Food