Recipe: Rice Pork Wrap

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zòng  zĭ

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The Duanwu Festival or, "Dragon Boat Festival,” occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese Lunar calendar, giving rise to the alternative name, “Double Fifth.” This year it lands on May 30th. Traditionally we celebrate this festival by eating zongzi, which are large rice wraps, drinking realgar wine, and racing dragon boats. The best-known story holds that the festival commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC - 278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu.  Today we will teach you how make zongzi.

INGREDIENTS

( serves 5-6 people, about 12-14 zongzi )

30-40 bamboo or reed leaves 

粽叶zòng yè

2 jin glutinous rice 

糯米 nuò mĭ

1½ jin mixed pork 

夹心肉 jiá xīn ròu

2 teaspoons salt 

盐 yán

2-3tablespoons soy sauce 

酱油 jiàng yóu

1 tablespoon shochu 

烧酒 shāo jiŭ

20 (40cm) lengths of string 

线 xiàn

METHOD

 STEP 1

Zongzi prep takes a long time. First there are the leaves. They need to be soaked in water for at least 24 hours prior to use. Only when the leaves are ready should you begin preparing the pork filling and rice. 

 STEP 2

Cut the pork into 2cm x 3cm cubes.  Put the cubes into a bowl, add shochu, stir and mix well, cover it and leave it to soak for 30 minutes. After the soaking period,  pour out the extra liquid and add enough soy sauce to cover all the pork. Let the pork marinate for 4-5 hours. Stir occasionally. 

 STEP 3

Put all the rice into a huge bowl, add the salt and 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce, stir well and set aside for 30 minutes to let the sauce soak into the rice.

 STEP 4

When everything is ready, it’s time to wrap them. Take 2-3 leaves, fold the leaves as illustrated, make it look like a pocket. 

▲  Put some rice at the bottom. 

▲ Then add one piece of lean and one piece of fatty pork each. It’s important to have fat in there. It makes the zongzi much more tasty. 

▲  Now cover the pork with more rice. 

▲  Press it tight, finish wrapping it and tie it up with string.

 STEP 5

After wrapping them all, it’s time to cook. If you use a pressure cooker, just put in all the zongzi and a lot of water till they’re totally covered. Close the cooker and cook them till the pressure cooker starts screaming. It’s OK. Let it scream for another half an hour. Then turn down the fire a bit and cook for another half an hour. Remove from the flame and leave them sit for 30 minutes. 

If you use a normal pot, it will take longer to cook. Bring the water to boil, add the zongzi, cook for 40 minutes, reduce the flame, cook for another 40 minutes, remove from flame, and leave them sit inside the pot for 30 minutes.

 STEP 6

Finally it’s time to try the tasty zongzi. You can keep the rest in the freezer. It normally takes about 30 minutes to cook the frozen ones, however, the longer they’ve been cooked the tastier they taste! 

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