Zongzi (Cantonese-Style Rice Dumpling)

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients:

Soak the bamboo leaves (day before):
Place the dry bamboo leaves into a pot or bowl and add enough water to cover the bamboo leaves. Allow the leaves to soak for at least 6 hours or overnight. Place weights on top of the leaves if needed to keep them from floating up.
After soaking, drain and cover the bamboo leaves with fresh water. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Allow the leaves to simmer for about 5 minutes. Drain and place the leaves to into a bowl of cold water.
Use a clean kitchen towel or sponge and gently wipe both sides of the bamboo leaves to clean off any stubborn debris. Rinse and set aside. If not using soon, make sure to cover it to keep the leaves from drying out.
Soak the rice:
Wash and rinse the rice a few times until the water runs mostly clear. Cover the rice with about 1 to 2 inches of water and allow the rice to soak for at least 6 hours or overnight in the fridge.
The day of, drain the rice well and season with salt. Mix well and set aside until needed.
Marinated the pork belly:
Combine all the marinating ingredients for the pork belly (oyster sauce, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, sugar, and five spice) and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Add the pork belly and mix until well coated. Allow the pork to marinate for at least a few hours, best overnight in the fridge.
Marinate the shiitake mushrooms:
Soak the dry shiitake mushrooms with some boiling hot water until they are rehydrated. Once rehydrated, drain and squeeze out the excess water in the mushrooms. Cut off the woody stems of the shiitake mushrooms and cut the mushrooms into halves or quarters.
In a bowl, mix together all the mushroom marinade ingredients (water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar). Mix well until the sugar is dissolved. Add the shiitake mushrooms and mix well. Set aside allow the mushrooms to soak up the marinade.
Soak the scallop:
Cover the dry scallops with boiling hot water and allow them to soak for at least 4 to 6 hours, or overnight in the fridge. When needed, drain and set aside.
Bake the salted egg yolks:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the salted yolks into a parchment lined sheet pan. Spray or dip each yolk with some clear liquor like vodka or high proof rice wine. Bake the salted yolks for 5 to 10 minutes, or until they are foamy. Remove and allow the yolks to cool. Cut the yolks into halves.
For the Chinese sausage:
Cut each link of Chinese sausage at an angle into 8 equal pieces (so 16 piece for 2 links). Set aside until needed.

Make the zongzi:

Gather all the prepared ingredients for the rice dumplings, along with the bamboo leaves, and 16 strands of butcher's twine (each about 2 to 3 feet long).
Overlap 2 bamboo leaves over each other in the same direction, shiny side up. Then at the bottom ⅓ of the leaves, fold and twist into a cone.
Fill the cone with about 1 to 2 tablespoons of rice, making sure to make an indentation in the rice with the back of a spoon. Add a half of a salted yolk, a piece of marinated pork, 2 quarters or 1 half of a marinated shiitake, 1 scallop, and 1 piece of Chinese sausage. Top the filling with a couple tablespoons more rice to fill up the cone. Then firmly flatten it using the back of the spoon.
Fold down the top flap of the leaves and wrap the leaves around the cone. Tie the zongzi with a strand of butcher's twine. Repeat with remaining leaves and fillings.
*Please refer to the post above for step by step photos and more detailed folding instructions!*

Cook the zongzi:

Pressure cooker method:
Place the rice finished rice dumplings into the pressure cooker pot and fill it with enough water to either cover or up to the max fill line.
For pressure cookers like Instant Pot, select the "high pressure" pressure cook setting and make sure the vent is sealed. Set the cook time to 30 minutes and manually release the steam once the time is up. Be careful the steam is HOT!
For rice cookers, like a Cuckoo rice cooker, select the "multicook" setting. set the cook time for 30 minutes. Rice cookers will auto release the steam on its own.
Stove top method:
Place the finished rice dumplings into a large stock pot and fill it with enough water so that the dumplings are completely submerged. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a medium simmer. Allow the rice dumplings to cook for about 2 to 2½ hours. Replenish the water as needed to keep the rice dumplings submerged.
After the cook time, you can take out a rice dumpling to check if it's done. If the rice dumpling holds it shape and peels off the bamboo leaves easily, the rice dumplings are done.

Serve:

Once the rice dumplings are cooked, remove them from the water. Allow them to cool slightly before enjoying.
To enjoy the zongzi, untie the twine and unwrap the rice dumplings from the bamboo leaves. Enjoy the rice dumplings while they are warm. Discard the bamboo leaves.
*We like to mash and mix the salted yolk and bay scallop with the rice so that each bite is more flavorful. But how you eat it is really up to personal preference.*

Zongzi (Cantonese-Style Rice Dumpling)

Ingredients

For the zongzi:

For the marinated pork belly:

For the marinated shiitake mushrooms:

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients:

Make the zongzi:

Cook the zongzi:

Serve:

Notes

Nutrition

Zongzi (Cantonese-Style Rice Dumpling)

Ingredients 1x2x3x4x

For the zongzi:

For the marinated pork belly:

For the marinated shiitake mushrooms:

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients:

Make the zongzi:

Cook the zongzi:

Serve:

Notes

Nutrition

Ingredients