粽子
zòng zi zung3 zi2
When the poet Qu Yuan drowned himself in 278 BC, villagers threw rice bundles into the river so the fish would spare his body. Two thousand years later, the whole country still argues sweet north vs. savoury south every fifth lunar month.
The story behind it
Dragon Boat Festival (端午节) commemorates Qu Yuan, China’s first named poet, and the boat races re-enact the rush to save him. Every region wraps differently — northern dates and sweet bean vs. southern pork and salted yolk — an annual sweet-vs-savoury debate that floods Chinese social media.
Ingredients
- 500 g glutinous rice, soaked 4 hours
- 20 dried bamboo leaves, boiled until pliable
- 300 g pork belly, marinated in soy sauce and five-spice
- 6 salted egg yolks (savoury version)
- Kitchen string
Steps
- Fold two overlapping leaves into a cone.
- Fill with rice, a piece of pork and half an egg yolk; top with more rice.
- Fold the leaves over and bind firmly with string.
- Simmer fully submerged for 2–3 hours (or 45 minutes in a pressure cooker).