duan wu jie

 or the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated today, the 5^th day of the 5^th lunar month. There will not be any dragon boat races this year but we will still make dumplings together as a family. 

Making “zongzi” is way too much work for a single person, thus it is family time together. But, today’s generation may not necessarily be all that keen into tedious work and making dumplings is painstaking. So, sometimes it is a group of friends coming together and getting busy with their hands and mouths (not eating, simply updating on news and gossip!) Here is Jocelyn in Adelaide, Australia getting the job done. 

A whole lot of ingredients - sticky or glutinous rice,Chinese mushrooms, water chestnuts, fatty pork (belly pork), mung beans, garlic and shallots. Bamboo leaves are soaked over night and string for wrapping the dumplings. These are for wrapping and keeping the ingredients inside during steaming, and not to be eaten.

All these condiments have to be placed "strategically" into the centre of 2 bamboo leaves.

 I use the term "strategically" as it is not merely "dumping ingredients into the dumpling." If this crucial step is not done expertly, it is a disaster as all the stuff will fall and leak out during the steaming process. And you ain't getting a dumpling, but a real mess of sticky rice.

 It takes many lessons before one wraps a GOOD TIGHT dumpling. NOT TOO TIGHT or the steam can't get in to cook the rice. But, NOT TOO LOOSE or everything falls out. Just a RIGHT TIGHT! And "zongzi" must be polyhedrons like the Great Pyramids of Giza. Alas, a dumpling like me has NEVER managed to get this step correct.

All this looks simple but making "zongzi" is quite an art.

The dumplings (NOT ME please) are put into a steamer for cooking. 

It is a team effort cos "zongzi" is so yummy, the family shovels them quickly into their mouths! These wonderfully happily wrapped dumplings are hanging and waiting to be steamed.

EXPERTLY WRAPPED and TIED - MASTER PIECES BY JOCELYN AND FRIENDS.

All Images credit: Jocelyn