Have you ever eaten zongzi? Eating zongzi is one of the traditional customs of the Dragon Boat Festival. Zongzi is one of the traditional food with the deepest accumulation in Chinese history and culture and it has been spread for a long time. The custom of eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival has a history of thousands of years in China and the custom of eating zongzi has spread to North Korea, Japan and other Southeast Asian countries.

Zongzi is a steamed food made of glutinous rice wrapped in zong leaves. The main ingredients of zongzi are glutinous rice and fillings, which are wrapped in rue leaves. There are many shapes of zongzi, mainly including sharp corners and four corners. Due to the differences in the geographical environment and climate between the south and north of China, the eating habits of the north and south are different. The taste of zongzi has formed different tastes between the south and the north of China.

In terms of taste, zongzi can be divided into two categories: salty zongzi and sweet zongzi. To distinguish from the filling, there are Beijing red date zongzi with red dates as the filling in the north. There are many kinds of fillings in the south of China such as mung bean, pork belly, bean paste, eight treasures, ham, mushrooms, egg yolk, etc. Among them, the bacon zongzi from Guangdong and the zongzi from Jiaxing, Zhejiang are the representatives. In 2012, Zongzi was selected as one of the food series in the second episode of the documentary "A Bite of China", "The Story of Staple Food".

Zongzi first appeared in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. In the Jin Dynasty, Zongzi became the food of the Dragon Boat Festival. At this time, in addition to glutinous rice, the raw materials for making zongzi are also added with Chinese medicine Yizhiren. The cooked zongzi is called "yizhi zongzi". Some meat, chestnuts, etc. are added to glutinous rice, and there are more varieties of zongzi. Zongzi is also used as a gift.

Cone and diamond-shaped zongzi appeared in the zongzi of the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, there were already candied rice dumplings, and the fruit was added to the rice dumplings. The famous poet Su Dongpo once wrote that he had eaten bayberry in the rice dumplings. In the Song Dynasty, eating zongzi has become very popular.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the leaves used to wrap the zongzi had become reed leaves, and bean paste, pine nuts, red dates, and walnuts also appeared in the fillings of the zongzi. The variety of zongzi is more abundant. "Ham dumplings" appeared in the Qing Dynasty, and zongzi became auspicious food. According to legend, at that time, all talents who participated in the imperial examinations had to eat rice dumplings specially packaged by their parents before entering the examination room, which meant that the examination went smoothly and the title of the gold list.

Bacon Zongzi should first mix the fresh pork with a little MSG, sugar, wine, salt, and light soy sauce before making the zongzi. The bean paste dumplings should not be tied too tightly to prevent the rice grains from squeezing into the bean paste. If they are not cooked thoroughly, they will become trapped. If the bacon dumplings are made of lean pork, they must be tied tightly, because the lean meat will shrink after it is cooked, and the fatty juice of the dumplings will leak into the water, which will not keep the rice dumplings fat.

When boiling the zongzi, the zongzi must be boiled. The water must be soaked in the zongzi noodles. After the rice dumplings are boiled again, they can be boiled for about 3 hours. Do not add water during the cooking process. Be careful not to cook the rice dumplings with other rice dumplings. Take it out while it's hot after cooking. When eating, the zong leaves are opened, and the nose is fragrant. The mouth is oily but not greasy, glutinous but not sticky. The salty and sweetness is moderate, and the fragrant and delicious are top grade.