To celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival (called Duanwujie) on May 28, two Malaysian friends invited the rest of the group to pack rice dumplings (zongzi) together.
Initially I didn’t feel like joining as I was tired from running a few errands but the thought of Hubby and the boy having no rice dumplings changed my mind. I’m glad I joined in 
When I was a kid, I remember my grandmother making all the preparations with the help of my aunts. A woman of few words, my grandmother would rise up early in the morning to check all the raw ingredients were ready:
- the glutinous rice,
- the triple-layered pork (called ‘san zhan’),
- the chestnuts,
- the dried mushrooms.
The bamboo leaves for packing woud have been soaked, washed and dried a few days ahead.
My Mum would also pack the exact rice dumplings for us when we were kids – boy, those days of having rice dumplings at recess in school or tea for almost a week. Heaven!
This time, I’d be packing for my own family. Led by a few master chefs, who would prepare the pork, the mushrooms and the glutinous rice, the rest of us were given individual items to prepare.
Hunting for chestnuts
I asked for the least labour-intensive job, which was to hunt and prepare the chestnuts. In Malaysia, we used dried chestnuts but in China, fresh chestnuts are available.
Our master chefs have really high standards – I was to hunt for fresh ones, resorting to dried or frozen, if desperate. I tried a small wet market but finding none, I went to the bigger one and nearly panicked when I couldn’t see any.
I found the dried chestnuts, which sold at a pricey RMB18/kati – OK, I’ll k.i.v. that. Getting my own supply of fish, chicken, vegetables and fruits, I’d reached the end of the market and was about to sound the alarm when I noticed a corner shop selling ready-made zongzi and dried leaves.
Hurrah! Seated next to that shop was a man selling the fresh chestnusts. Phew, I immediately bought 2 kati as ordered (RMB10/kati) and was told to soak them in hot water to peel the skin off easily. The chestnut skin feels like a thicker version of the pak kor (gingko) skin.
After that, I was to fry the chestnuts with shallots and garlic, dark soy sauce and 5-spice powder. Wow, they smelled good!
Packing the zongzi (rice dumplings)
Once everything was organized around the hanging rack, the master chefs started packing the dumplings. Many of them packed beautiful pyramids, which remained intact even after the cooking process.
Here are the other fillings that went into our rice dumplings:
A couple of us still need to master the skill of ‘closing’ and tying the dumpling 
First, you take two bamboo leaves and form a cone shape and fill it with about 1 tbs of glutinous rice. Then, you fill it with whatever you wanted, usually one of each item. Mine didn’t have the oysters.
There was a debate about the packing – half would fill the cone loosely (allowing room for expansion) while the other half would pack the rice into a compact shape.
I was from the latter camp but the challenge was to tie the zongzi! A dunce at arts-and-crafts, my zongzi always came up slightly longish and misshapen Will definitely try again next year and practise it under my Mum’s supervision!
Packed treasures
Here are the fruits of our labour – each of us had about 19 pieces to bring home:
The hostess put ten into the pressure cooker so that we could eat taste the fruit of our labour before we went home. We’d started at 10.30 am and finished packing 160+ rice dumplings by 1.30 pm.
Our ‘hostest with the mostest’ served us steamed yam cake (wu tao kou) and rojak (yum!!!) – this lady always has PLENTY of food at her place
Diddle, diddle dumpling
Here’s my misshapen zongzi, which was delicious (and not ‘windy’ as I feared. Maybe because it was freshly-cooked and piping hot when I ate it?)
Back home, I boiled the rice dumplings in salted water for 2 hours – I had to rescue a few which had unravelled themselves ai-yo-yo!
Our 19 dumplings disappeared fast because I had another one for supper, gave 3 to one of Hubby’s male colleague (who promptly had them for breakfast!)and gave one to my cleaner.
We all had zongzi for breakfast and tea and Hubby had another for tea and dinner LOL
Hubby and I ate another 2 this morning, which leaves 2 more in the fridge!
I was surprised that even my fussy tot wanted a ‘zhang’ and even ate the pork. He needed a bit of threatening to eat the chestnut but during the weekend, he kept asking for ‘brown colour’ for tea
Due to their popularity, looks like I’ll have to pack zongzi every year from now on LOL
Notes:
1. Here’s an overview of legends of the rice dumplings – the version I recall is of villagers throwing rice dumplings into the water to lure fish away from a famous poet who committed suicide.
2. In these parts, Duanwujie marks the REAL end of Spring because the days become markedly hotter after May 28th
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow I’m terribly impressed! It has never even crossed my mind to get the “zhong” from anywhere but ready-made ones from the morning market
Well done!
I tried my hands at them when mum packed zongzi at home when I was younger, but since coming to KL, never had the chance to do it. Nowadays, mum or MIL will pack and tapau for us. I just love them, and can eat them for breakfast for days on end, till my supply depletes.
Paik Ling – I didn’t do much lah! The ‘major’ parts of the preparation are definitely the rice and the pork
I can’t imagine making the zongzi on my own from scratch but a few Mums have been doing it for years! These Mums deserve the praise, certainly not me…
A Mom’s Diary – Enjoy it while it lasts! My Mum’s too tired to make them already as it’s a lot of work. Hope that I can try one session with her when we go back. I LOVE them!
yummylicious
i wish i knew how to do this
most likely i will end up buying…
Haiz.. I miss my zong zi. My fav is the nyonya one. Too bad, I am lousy at wrapping it. I have tried but failed of course, last time helping my mum.
Rachel – You should try to make it next year! If you can find someone who’s willing to teach you, then you’ll learn fast
Chew Lee – I know what you mean. Wrapping it is really tough but I am determined to pack a mean zongzi next year LOL Mmm, what’s a nyonya zongzi like???