This traditional Chinese dish ties back to a true story of a beloved poet named Qu Yuan who was wrongfully accused of treason. People commemorate him each year on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Lunar calendar (usually toward the end of May or June), with dragon boat festivities and these bamboo leaves stuffed with sticky rice and pork belly. Cook a ton of these in advance and keep them in a zip-top bag in the freezer. Thaw them in the fridge overnight and microwave for two minutes in the leaves, or boil them for 10 to 15 minutes directly from the freezer. You can get the leaves on Amazon. Everything else can be found at a local Asian market like HMart. —Lucy Wang, Los Angeles, California
Lucy Wang’s Zongzi
Published on Apr. 30, 2025
Watch How to Make Lucy Wang's Zongzi
Lucy Wang's Zongzi
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
3 hours 30 min
Yield
8 servings
Ingredients
- 24 bamboo leaves
- 2 cups glutinous rice
- 1/4 cup Lee Kum Kee dark soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Lee Kum Kee light soy sauce
- 2 pounds pork belly, thick sliced
- 1/4 cup Shao Xing cooking wine
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped to about 2 inches long
Directions
- In a large bowl, add the bamboo leaves and cover them completely with water (use something heavy like a plate to make sure they’re all submerged in the water). Place the glutinous rice in another bowl and cover it completely with water. Soak both the bamboo leaves and the rice overnight.
- The next day, rinse the glutinous rice in a strainer to get rid of the extra starch on the surface. Put the rinsed glutinous rice in a bowl and stir in a little dark and light soy sauce. Set aside.
- Put the pork belly in another bowl. Add the cooking wine, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and green onions; massage well with a glove, then set aside for 30 minutes to marinate.
- To assemble, stack two pieces of drained bamboo leaf and curl inwards until you make a cone. Add 1 tablespoon of glutinous rice and pack it down. Layer with pork belly (1 to 2 pieces is plenty), leave a little room on top. Top with glutinous rice and pack it down.
- Fold bamboo leaf until no filling shows (use an additional bamboo leaf to make sure it’s all covered). Tie it very tightly with butcher twine and cut off any excess leaves poking out.
- Put the zongzi in a large pot and fill it with water. Cook them on medium heat for about 3-1/2 hours.
- Once it’s finished cooking, cut the twine and unwrap the steaming hot and fragrant zongzi. The sticky rice should be nice and savory, while the pork should be super tender and fall apart easily.
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