Dragon Boat Festival where everyone celebrates with family gatherings, watching the dragon boat races and eating yummy Zongzi.
Can you hear the drums beating? Can you feel the intensity in the air? Can you see the sweat building up on the paddler's brow?
I know I promised everyone one straight month of Italian yummy dishes but this is a day that we need to pay respect to local tradition here in Hong Kong and in Asia and take a quick moment for reflection.
Actually, festivities have been going on all week but today is the actually holiday on the calendar. Come along with me to find out more about this Chinese Holiday...
Why is the Dragon Boat Festival Celebrated?
The Dragon boat festival is also known as Tuen Ng Festival. Yesterday one of my dear foodie friends from Singapore explained that this festival commemorates the death of a popular Chinese national hero, Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Mi Lo River over 2,000 years ago. Qu Yuan was trying to protest against the corrupt rulers. Legend has it that as townspeople attempted to rescue Qu Yuan, they beat drums to scare fish away and threw dumplings into the sea to keep the fish from eating his body. Today they celebrate by making and enjoying the zongzi (glutenous rice dumplings) instead of throwing them into the sea.
Each year many Dragon Boat racers compete to be the fastest in the competition. This is the real excitement. There are many leagues and much hard work, endurance and synchrony to get the 20-22 paddlers moving this boat quickly. Trust me I have tried it a few times and it is a lot of hard work. I found out about some new muscles I did not even know I had.
What is a Zongzi?
After all that hard work, you need some quick, fast and nutritious bites. Zongzi is just the perfect treat to keep your strength up for the Dragon Boat competitions. Zongzi are glutenous rice balls wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves which have many different types of goodies inside.
My dear friend Safie brought me over a few zongzi for our family enjoy today. I just finished steaming the zongzi for about 20 minutes. She brought over two different kinds for me to try. There is one type of zongzi with black bean paste, shrimp and pork.
The other zongzi has peanuts and some other items really I could not even after tasting it identify. (Not even me, and you know how I love re-engineering everything, maybe it was a chestnut?) Both types were quite nice but I really kind of liked the one with the black bean paste. It was both sweet and savory and that was kind of nice. This week, zongzi are being sold at almost every street corner. There are so many types and some even plain that they serve with honey.
We love celebrating the Drago Boat Festival with Zongzi. What is your favorite kind of Zongzi? Do you have a family recipe for Zongzi?
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Have a safe and Happy Dragon Boat Festival Celebration.
machisan says
This food looks so good that makes me hungry!!
Sammie says
i want this soooo bad right now! I haven't had a zongzi in forever and totally miss it. I love the ones that are filled with lots of sausage and mushrooms.. mmmm..
Healthy World Cuisine says
I must admit I tried my fair share of different types of zongzi but did not have a sausage and mushroom one. I will have to look for that next year during the dragon boat races. Welcome back Sammie! BAM
Kathleen Richardson says
Late as usual, I still had to chime in and tell you, BAM, how much I enjoyed this post ~ the photos, the food (I'm thinking chestnuts and cashews would be a good combo for the one Zongi!), and the tradition. You and your commenters talking about boat races reminded me that in nearby Bath, New York, they race down the main downtown street in bathtubs on wheels! Nowhere near as colorful as the Dragon Boat Festival.
Keep writing...
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you Kathleen! It is amazing how many cultures have a type of boat race like these. I am sure really the only main difference is the type of street food served.
Lisa says
I don't think I've ever tried Zongzi, but who would not love those lovely little bundles of glutinous rice with goodiews mixed in. I KNOW I'd love peanuts in mine..maybe some duck too! That said..those boats are so colorful and gorgeous. I would love to attend the Dragon Boat Festival. Closest I came was the Head of the Charles in Cambridge Mass..but that's Crew, and the boats are just super long..well..boats, in a race lol
Nami | Just One Cookbook says
Hi Bam!! Ah, my husband is not Chinese enough to tell me about the seasonal event like this! I saw my friends posting about zongzi, but I've never even tried making it at home. My kids are definitely missing "Chinese" part of roots in my household! Yours look delish! You can make so many different cuisines so well!
Healthy World Cuisine says
LOL... so do the kids speak both Nihongo and Mandarin as well? You should try some more Chinese dishes, after all, we need to keep the favorite men in our lives happy. Have a great weekend. BAM
Charles says
Hi Bam, I've never tried zongzi myself, but my sister-in-law (she's Chinese) made them for my mother once when she was visiting England and my mother has decided that she's now "addicted to zongzi" - lol... they must be wonderful 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Its both a pro and con to like zongzi. Pro is that they are very delicious but the con is that they are usually only made around this time of the year for the special event. So we will have to wait another year to get more as these little numbers are way too labor intensive for me to make at home. Maybe your sister in law will make you some zongzi when she comes to visit you and in exchange you can make her some of your fantastic dishes. Take Care, BAM
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you Reem. Guess what I have soaking right now? Chawal and urad ki dhuli dal as I am going to try to make dosa for the first time with one of my dear friends from India. How fun! Take care and have a great weekend. BAM