Zung 粽


Zongzi (or simply zong) (Chinese: 粽子) is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. They are known in Japanese as chimaki. Laotians, Thais, and Cambodians (known as Nom Asom) also have similar traditional dishes. In the Western world, they are also known as rice dumplings (an inaccurate translation) or Chinese tamales[citation needed]. In Indonesia and Malaysia, they are known as bakcang, bacang, or zang (Chinese: 肉粽; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bah-chàng), a loanword from Hakka, a Chinese dialect commonly used among Indonesian-Chinese, rather than Mandarin. Along the same lines, zongzi are more popularly known as machang among Chinese Filipinos.

[edit] Description

The shape of zongzi range from being relatively tetrahedral in northern China to cylindrical in southern China. Wrapping a zongzi neatly is a skill that is passed down through families, as are the recipes. Like tamale-making in Mexico and Pamonha-making in Brazil, making zongzi is traditionally a family event of which everyone helps out.

While traditional zongzi are wrapped in bamboo leaves, the leaves of lotus, maize, banana, canna, shell ginger and pandan leaves sometimes are used as substitutes in other countries. Each kind of leaf imparts its own unique smell and flavor to the rice.

The fillings used for zongzi vary from region to region, but the rice used is always glutinous rice (also called "sticky rice" or "sweet rice"). Depending on the region, the rice may be lightly precooked by stir-frying or soaked in water before using.

[edit] Fillings



Northern-style (left) and Southern-style (right) zongzi
Mung beans, split and dehulled
adzuki bean paste
Jujubes
Char siu (Chinese barbecued pork)
Chinese sausage
Salted pork fat
Chinese black mushrooms
Salted duck eggs
Chestnuts
Cooked peanuts
Mung beans
Dried shrimp
Dried Scallops
Red-cooked pork
Chicken
Taro
Zongzi need to be steamed or boiled for several hours depending on how the rice is made prior to being added, along with the fillings. However, as the modes of zongzi styles have traveled and become mixed, today one can find all kinds of zongzi at traditional markets, and their types are not confined to which side of the Yellow River they originated from.



Jianshui zongzi without fillings
[edit] Variations

Jia zong (假粽): Instead of glutinous rice, mochi-like balls of glutinous rice flour (so no individual grains of rice are discernible) are used to "contain" the fillings of the zongzi. These zongzi are typically smaller than most, and are much stickier.
Jianshui zong (碱水粽): Meaning "alkaline water zong," these are typically eaten as a dessert item rather than as part of the main meal. The glutinous rice is treated with lye water (aqueous sodium carbonate), or potassium carbonate, giving them their distinctive yellow color. Jianshui zong typically contain either no filling or are filled with a sweet mixture, such as sweet bean paste. Sometimes, a certain red wood sliver (shu mok) is inserted for color and flavor. They are often eaten with sugar or light syrup.
Nyonya zong (娘惹粽): A specialty of Peranakan cuisine, these zongzi are made similarly as southern zongzi. However, the wrapping used is pandan leaves.
Taiwan zongzi (臺灣粽): The northern Taiwanese zongzi (北部粽) are wrapped with husks of "Phyllostachys makinoi" bamboo (桂竹籜), then steamed; southern Taiwanese zongzi (南部粽) are wrapped with leaves of "Dendrocalamus latiflorus Munro" bamboo, AKA Bambusa oldhamii (麻竹葉), then are boiled.
[edit] See also

Lotus leaf wrap
Lo mai gai
Bánh chưng
Bánh tẻ
Bánh tét
Chimaki
Tamale
Pamonha
Pasteles
Hallaca
Corunda
[edit] References

^ The origin of zongzi

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zongzi