How to tell if zongzi is cooked

After making the rice dumplings, they need to be steamed in a pot. They must be steamed until cooked before they can be eaten, otherwise it will cause people to have abdominal pain symptoms. However, the time for steaming rice dumplings is also particular. Usually, the time required for the first time will be longer, especially for meat rice dumplings, which require about half an hour to make the rice dumplings cooked through, so that they will not be half-cooked and affect the taste.

Seasoning of zongzi fillings: To make salty pork zongzi, first mix fresh pork with a little MSG, sugar, wine, salt and light soy sauce, and rub it repeatedly until the seasonings penetrate into the pork before wrapping it.

Tying rice dumplings: Red bean paste rice dumplings should not be tied too tightly to prevent the rice grains from squeezing into the red bean paste. If they are not cooked thoroughly, they will become undercooked. If you use fatty pork to make salty pork dumplings, do not tie them too tightly, just make sure the tightness is moderate. If you use lean pork, you must tie it tightly, because the lean meat will shrink after being cooked, and the fat juice of the zongzi filling will leak into the water, and the zongzi will not remain fat and glutinous.

Cooking zongzi: When cooking zongzi, make sure the water boils before putting the zongzi in. The water should cover the surface of the zongzi. After the water boils again, cook it over high heat for about 3 hours. Do not add raw water while cooking rice dumplings. Please note that lye water rice dumplings cannot be cooked together with other rice dumplings. After cooking, take it out while hot. When eating, open the rice dumpling leaf, the rice dumpling is fragrant, oily but not greasy, glutinous but not sticky, moderately salty and sweet, tender and delicious, and it is a top-quality product.

Selection of materials for zongzi: The leaves used to wrap zongzi vary in different regions. In the south, bamboo leaves or reed leaves are mostly used. In Hainan Island, my country, a plant unique to Lingnan, called "柊叶", is also used as the leaves for wrapping zongzi. The shape of the leaves is usually triangular, pyramidal or square. In the Central Plains, the leaves used to wrap rice dumplings are mostly oak leaves, and the dumplings are wrapped in a rectangular shape.

Indica leaves

Guangdong people mostly use bamboo leaves to make rice dumplings, and it is better to choose those with a smooth, soft and tough surface. Shantou people often use bamboo leaves to make rice dumplings, which have the fragrance of bamboo leaves, but they must be boiled until soft before use. Shanghai and other places use the indigo leaves picked from Huangshan Mountain in Anhui every year during the dog days of summer. They have a special fragrance and are commonly known as "Huizhou Fuluo".

It is most commonly used in the northern region. The northern reed leaves are fresh and the rice dumplings made from them are fragrant. People in the north can use local materials and they are cheap. The disadvantage is that the leaves are narrow, making it a little more difficult to wrap rice dumplings. The bamboo leaves in the south are wider, making them easier to wrap and more suitable for beginners.