Zong Zi

Ingredients

1/2 package dried Bamboo Leaves (8 ounces)

3 cups glutinous rice, soaked overnight or for at least 6 hours

Kitchen twine

1 lb pork butt

1 cup dried shrimp or substitute whole boiled peanuts

1 Tbl soy sauce

Per bamboo package:

1 dried shiitake mushroom

1 dried scallop*

1 cooked peeled chestnut (Available vacuum packed at Korean markets)

1 pork shoulder, par cooked and sliced

*Iu-Luen does not trust the quality of dried scallops from Mainland China. She brings hers back from visits home to Taipei. You can also order dried scallops online from Hokkaido Japan.

Instructions

Soak the dried bamboo leaves in water until they are pliable, and trim the hard part where the leaf is connected to the plant. Soak the kitchen twine for wrapping the bamboo packages along with the bamboo leaves.

Cut twine in 5-foot lengths; tie the threads together in a knot at the top. Attach them to a knob in the kitchen from which you can hang the wrapped bamboo and rice packages, as you form them.

Soak dried mushrooms and scallops in warm water for 30 minutes to an hour.

Trim the stems off the shitake mushrooms. Make sure that you clean off any grit from the scallops and rinse well before soaking. Save the umami-rich soaking water for cooking the rice.

Each dumpling will contain 1 dried shiitake mushroom, 1 dried scallop, 1 chestnut and 1 slice of pork butt, along with the glutinous rice.

Cut slices of pork 2.5 inches by ½ inch. Using just a little fat in a wok, cook the pork slices with a tablespoon of soy. If you are using raw peeled chestnuts, add them at this point. Add ½ cup of the water used to soak the mushrooms and scallops and simmer for ½ hour.

Juices will run clear, but the pork will not be tender after a half hour. It will cook to tenderness later when you steam the dumplings.

Strain the soaked glutinous rice. In a wok or sauté pan, add 1 cup of the mushroom-scallop soaking water and reduce the liquid until the rice is just dry.

Put the mixture in a bowl and add dried shrimp. For a less luxurious preparation you could use whole boiled peanuts instead of dried shrimp.

Take 2 bamboo leaves, top to tail, fold in middle and make a cone. Put a large spoonful of the rice in the bottom, and a piece of pork, scallop and chestnut and cover with more rice. Fill cone to the top and fold bamboo leaf over the rice.

Grab a string and wrap it around several times, so the cone holds its shape. Trust me, this is harder to describe than it is to do. Here’s a link to a helpful video if you want more visuals.

Steam 1 hour. (In Northern Taiwan the bamboo leaf bundles are steamed, in southern Taiwan they are boiled.)

To eat Zong Zi, unwrap the dumplings, add crushed peanuts and cilantro. Taiwanese usually pair the dumplings with a local sweet chili sauce.

Note: Of course the dumplings are best when they are first made, but they can also be steamed to reheat.

After working on this kitchen project together, on first taste, Iu Luen sighed, “I miss home”.