Zongzi (pronounced zawng-zih) are tetrahedral-shaped glutinous rices cakes, often stuffed with bean paste, meat or egg yolk, wrapped in bamboo leaves or reed.

Traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival in memory of Qu Yuan's self-sacrifice into the Miluo River and the denizens of Chinese who thus threw their Zongzi in the river to prevent the fish from eating his corpse, Zongzi are available year round in most Chinese convenience stores and at many food stalls and carts around every Chinese city.

Quite sticky inside, Zongzi are indeed very delicious, but a bit tricky to open without covering your hands in delicious mess.

Step one involves untying the outer string and unfolding the first wrap of the reed leaf:

After the first side is exposed, the reed should be slowly separated from itself (two ends are usually stuck together) resulting in another turn of the leaf:

After one more turn of the leaf, the Zongzi rice cake becomes free of it's outer shell and is primed for consumption:

Once the Zongzi is completely removed from the leaf, it is ready to eat and is a tasty treat on any day of the year, but especially important to eat on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

"Always hungry, never full . . . "

Hungry Dan: Already Served

Huiguo Rou
Chao Mian
Gong Bao Ji Ding
Jiachang Doufu
Fanqie Chaodan
Tangcu Li Ji
Di San Xian
Yuxiang Rou Si
Chou Doufu


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*all photos by Dan Shapiro