Ingredients
Materials
- 24 to 36 dried bamboo leaves
- 24 2 ft (60 cm) twine
Rice
- 3 cups (600 g) short grain sweet rice , washed (Footnote 2)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
Pork
- 12 oz (350 g) fatty pork (pork belly, chop, or loin with fat attached) , cut into 2” (5cm) chunks (Footnote 3)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 2 green onions , sliced diagonally
Directions
- Soak rice in plain water overnight.
- Mix marinades. Marinate pork min 4 hrs, max overnight.
- Drain rice, add rice marinade. Soak 4 hrs or overnight.
- Wrap in leaves OR do deconstructed version (see below)
(Wrapping instructions from Reddit)
- Add dried bamboo leaves to a large basin of water. Weigh them down with a heavy object, then pour over boiled water on top. Leave to soak overnight.
- Soak the glutinous rice in water overnight. Make sure the water level is about 3-4 inches above the rice.
- Cut up the pork into 1 inch pieces. Add all the marinade ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Rest overnight in the fridge.
- On the next day, drain the rice, and mix in rice marinade ingredients. Marinate for 30 min.
Wrapping zongzi (Shanghai style) (Source: North Coast Journal)
Sammy Wong’s Kitchen (Youtube, Shanghai style)
TO COOK:
Instant Pot: Place zongzi in pot and cover with water (at least 1”). Secure lid and cook on high pressure for 1 hour. At end of cooking time, unplug allow 15 min to lower pressure naturally. Vent lid to release remaining pressure, then remove from IP into a colander-lined bowl.
Stovetop: Place in pot and cover with water (at least 1” over) Bring to a boil. Decrease heat to low and boil for 2.5 hours. Add more boiling water if water level is low. Remove to a colander-lined bowl to drain.
All methods: Allow to drain before serving warm, or cool and refrigerate or freeze.
Deconstructed xongzi, instant pot:
- Spray dish with cooking spray
- Drain rice, pork
- Lay down layer of rice, make a well
- Add pork, cover with more rice
- Add 2 Tbs water
- Prep instant pot to cook. Insert trivet and dish, seal top and cook 45 min high pressure.
From Reddit:
This is one of the most ambitious recipes I’ve ever made but so worth it! These are 粽子 (zongzi), bamboo covered sticky rice. They’re traditionally eaten during the yearly dragon boat festival and are either flavored with sweet or salty fillings. I personally love the salty pork belly filling.
Since quarantine, I haven’t been able to get my hands on any so I decided to make some myself. The full process takes 2 days but the end result is extremely delicious. You can make a large batch of them, store in the fridge, then just reheat in the microwave!
INGREDIENTS:
Rice & rice marinade:
• 3 cups sweet glutinous rice
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp non flavored oil
Pork and marinade:
• 1.5 lbs pork belly
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp of ground ginger
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp miso paste or 1 piece of fermented bean curd
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp five-spice powder
Additional tools:
• 40-60 bamboo leaves
• kitchen twine
From Reddit: wrapping instructions
- Remove the soaked leaves from the water and wash. Let leaves sit in water while you prepare the zongzi.
- To wrap, take two pieces of bamboo leaves. You’ll see that one side has a raised stem, and the other is smooth. You’ll also see one side of the leave has a rough point and the other is a sharper point.
- Cut off the rough point, including 1 inch of the leaf. take two leaves, with the rough raised stem sides on top of each other (smooth sides facing towards and away from you) and sharp points of the leaves facing each other. Refer to the video on Instagram for the image!
- At one end (~1/3 of the leaf), fold the leaves so it forms a little cup.
- Place rice in first, then add a piece of pork, then top off with rice. fold the extra length of leave on top and you’ll have a triangle shape. fold the extra part of the leaf around the rest of the zongzi, then tie up with kitchen twine.
Notes
- I have only ever made the pork version but some time will get around to making a red bean version.
- When making the pork version: it’s quite, quite rich if you only use pork belly. I strongly suggest doing a 50/50 mix of pork belly and something else, either country style ribs or pork shoulder.
- 2024 notes: used about 2/3 C rice to 2-3 chunks of pork belly. Soaked about 9C rice (dry) and 2.5 lbs pork belly, to make approximately 30-35 zongzi. Next year, slightly less rice, more meat per zong.
