My co-worker from China gave us some Zongzi. Zong... What?
"Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling."
These sticky rice treats are traditionally prepared and eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival where they commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet. The one she gave us were wrapped in bamboo leaves and tied with kitchen twine. One had meat and the other with sweet dates. We don't have a microwave at home so I steamed it for about 15 minutes.
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| Meat Zongzi |
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| Sweetened Dates Zongzi |
We have a similar type of food in the Philippines, the "suman" which is sweetened glutinous rice wrapped in banana or coconut leaves (called "ibos" in the Hiligaynon dialect). I preferably eat it with ripe mango... oh my.. yummy! Zongzi is also called as "Chinese tamales" - probably because of the similarity of the cooking process.
We enjoyed eating it, dipped the meat in soy sauce and the one with dates in sugar. Mouthwatering.
Isn't it nice to try food from other cultures? Try it sometime. Explore. Make friends with someone with another culture. Enjoy!
Blessings,
♥ michelle ♥
Thanks for sharing Bing! We got some too - indeed, just one of the many blessings of taking down cultural barriers to friendship. We microvaved one, carefully opened the bamboo wrap, sliced into the sticky rice to see and taste the treasure (dates) that was stuffed inside. Can't wait to try one with the meat today. Blessings!!
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