How much do you know about zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival？

　　As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, Chengnan Experimental Primary School in Hai ‘an City, Jiangsu Province has launched a series of activities called "Our Dragon Boat Festival". Volunteers come into the class to guide students to understand the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, learn to make zongzi and inherit Chinese traditional culture. Photo by Zhai Huiyong (Image China)

　　Zongzi is fragrant during the Dragon Boat Festival. How much do you know about zongzi?

　　Zongzi was called "Jiaoshu" in ancient times.

　　According to legend, in ancient times, our ancestors used plant leaves to wrap food raw materials and cooked them by "stone cooking", which is the embryonic form of zongzi. Later, people used plant leaves to wrap millet into horns instead of yellow cattle as sacrifices, and the earliest zongzi "horn millet" came into being. After a long evolution, Zongzi has become an important part of China’s traditional food culture.

　　Why are zongzi often quadrangular?

　　From the technical point of view, the four corners are wrapped to add more stuffing and the appearance is fuller. When wrapping, leave a gap in one corner, which can leave room for the expansion of glutinous rice. Later, because of its unique and beautiful appearance, the four-corner dumplings gradually emerged.

　　Why do you use glutinous rice for dumplings?

　　First of all, glutinous rice is rich in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins B1 and B2, and has high nutritional value. Secondly, glutinous rice is sticky and soft, which can be well wrapped and not easily deformed.

　　How to cook zongzi?

　　Modern people generally use pressure cookers to cook zongzi, which can be cooked for about 1 hour. The traditional method of cooking zongzi is complicated. Take Jiaxing Zongzi as an example. After the water in the iron pot is boiled, put the Zongzi into the pot, soak it in water, first use high fire, then boil it with low fire for two hours, and finally turn off the fire for one hour. Water should be collected from Jiaxing ancient canal, stored in vat and precipitated with alum for later use. Mulberry wood should be used for firewood to ensure proper temperature.

　　What are the types of zongzi?

　　Zongzi in different places has its own characteristics. For example, in Beijing, zongzi is a large, oblique quadrangle or triangle, mostly filled with red dates and red bean paste, and a few with preserved fruit; Guangdong Zongzi is a representative variety in South China, which is small in size and unique in appearance, and salted meat Zongzi is the most common. There are also bamboo tube dumplings in Yunnan minority areas; Jiaxing Zongzi is the representative of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

　　Where is the "new" new type of zongzi?

　　"New" mainly refers to the change of stuffing and technology. Modern zongzi stuffing has expanded from traditional ingredients to mushroom, chocolate, fruit and nuts. Technologically, "Zongzi-like" products like Crystal Zongzi appeared. In the future, healthy, light food and high-value dumplings will be more and more popular among young people.

　　(Interview organized by Xu Wei, deputy general manager of Zhejiang Wufangzhai Industrial Co., Ltd.)