Guest Author - Deborah Adams
China is this months featured cultural holidays and recipes topic. For many more good Chinese recipes please visit Pamela's Chinese Food site here at Bellaonline.com. She has a wonderful selection there!
The holidays in June in China are:
1st International Children's Day
22nd Dragon Boat Festival Day
The rice dumpling is a traditional Chinese food. The origins of the rice dumplings can be traced to the legend of Qu Yuan, a well-loved pioneer poet who drowned himself in a river after the state's capital was captured by enemies. To stop the fish from eating his body, people made rice dumplings and threw them into the river. Another version of the legend states that the dumplings were to placate a dragon that lived in the river.
Rice dumplings are made for the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar.
The fillings for the dumplings will vary from region to region but the rice is always glutinous rice. The fillings can be sweet, such as mashed yellow beans or savoury and may include pork, Chinese mushrooms, salted egg yolks, chestnuts or may contain no filling at all. They are often eaten with sugar or syrup.
Rice dumplings with pork (also called Zong Zi or Tzungtzu and probably has other names as well)
1 c. Pork
1 c. mung beans split
10 salted egg yolks
1 1/2 c. glutinous rice, soaked overnight
20 Chinese mushrooms
2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
Seasoning
2 Tbsp. Spicy salt
1 tsp. powdered Chicken Bouillon
1/4 tsp. pepper
1Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. oil
Chinese Mushroom Marinade
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. sugar
To wrap the dumplings
10 dried lotus leaves
20 straws soaked in water
30 bamboo leaves
Chop the pork into small pieces and marinate for 24 - 48 hrs with 2 tsp. of Chinese five-spice powder and 1 tsp. salt.
Rinse and drain the glutinous rice. Mix well with some of the seasoning (1 1/2 Tbsp. spicy salt, 1/2 Tbsp. sugar, chicken bouillon, oil and pepper).
Soak the mung beans in water to clean. Drain and add the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. each of spicy salt and sugar and mix well.
Wash and soak the Chinese mushrooms. Remove the stalks and mix well with the Chinese mushroom marinade for 20 minutes. Steam for 10 minutes.
Wash and boil the lotus and bamboo leaves until soft then drain and towel-dry. Place 3 bamboo leaves on a lotus leaf.
Put a layer of glutinous rice on the bamboo leaves and add a layer of mung beans.
Top with a salted egg yolk, a little pork and 2 cooked Chinese mushrooms.
Cover with a layer of mung beans and another layer of glutinous rice.
Fold in the leaves to form a pyramid shaped dumpling, then tie firmly with straw.
Prepare a large pot lined with several bamboo leaves. Put in the rice dumplings, then fill with enough water to cover them.
Use high heat to bring the water to a boil, then reduce to moderate heat and continue to boil for 6 hours.
Remove and drain.
Serve hot.
For more information on Children's Day visit Children's Day
And this page about Children's Day around the world
Some of my recipes listed on my site are used with permission from One Million Recipes CD. For many more wonderful recipes please visit One Million Recipes and get your copy today!
