Rice Dumpling

Rice Dumpling is also known as Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in or leaves.

They are cooked by steaming or boiling.




Origins

Zongzi (also known as rice dumpling) is traditionally eaten during the (Mandarin: Duanwu; Cantonese: Tuen Ng) which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the (approximately early to mid-June), commemorating the death of from the kingdom of Chu who lived during the expansionism of their neighbors.

When the Qin Dynasty general took Yingdu, the Chu capital, in 278 BC, Qu Yuan's grief was so intense that he drowned himself in the Miluo river after penning the Lament for Ying.

According to legend, packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent dragon that lived in the river to prevent fish from eating the poet's body.