Grandma's Zong Zi Meat Dumpling 肉粽子
Eat a zong zi 粽子 that is laboriously prepared by someone who loves you and see if you don't feel completely satisfied, happy, really loved after that deliriously aromatic, droolingly savory rice dumpling.
- Prep time
- 2 hr 30 min
- Cook time
- 3 hr
- Yield
- 20 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 3/4 cups glutinous rice, 560 g
- 40 dried bamboo leaves
- 20 straw ties
- 200 g mung beans
- 3650 g pork belly
- 8 salted duck eggs
- 8 dried shitake mushrooms
- 8 dried scallops
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce
- 1/4 cup dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 2 star anise
- 4 slices ginger
- 2 spring onions, chopped to 2 inch lengths
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the bamboo leaves and straw ties throughly in running water, then put in a large tub with hot water to soak for an hour until bendable.
- 2
Rinse the rice and soak an hour in cool water. Strain out water throughly then mix in light soy and dark soy. Let marinate for another hour.
- 3
Soak the mung beans in cool water to cover for an hour then strain.
- 4
Slice the pork belly into 1/2 inch slices or, better yet, get your butcher to do it. Mix in the marinade, cover and refrigerate for an hour.
- 5
Soak your dried mushrooms in boiling hot water until soft. Squeeze out excess water and slice into quarters.
- 6
Slice or break scallops in half.
- 7
Wash the black stuff off duck eggs, then break open the eggs and remove the semi hard yellow yolk inside, cut into halves and put aside.
- 8
With all the prepared ingredients at hand, take two bamboo leaves and cut off the hard tips at the base, overlap side by side, fold over to form a pocket.
- 9
Holding this pocket together with one hand, use the other hand to scoop 3 tbsp rice into the pocket, spreading it out 3 inch from the base up.
- 10
Then you can pile on 2-3 pieces of pork, halved salted egg, 2 quarters of mushrooms and halved scallop.
- 11
On top heap 2-3 tbsp mung beans from the bottom (end nearest you) of zong zi upwards. Finally add 2-3 more tbsp rice to the top (end furthest from you) of the zong zi.
- 12
Fold over right bit of bamboo leaf snuggly over the fillings, then fold left bit of bamboo leaf over that and tuck it under your thumb. Fold the remaining tip of bamboo leaf over the zong zi.
- 13
Tie up the zong zi firmly by wrapping around several times with straw and tying off.
- 14
In a very large pot, pack in zong zi, add water to cover and boil for 3 hours, topping up on water as needed.