Easy Chinese Rice Dumpling Zongzi Recipe

Zongzi, AKA sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves, is a traditional food we eat during the dragon boat festival. If you have made it before, you know how complicated and time-consuming it is. However, this recipe is an easy version for beginners.

Ingredients (makes 12-15 Zongzi)
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of diced shallot
2 tbsp of diced garlic

To Marinate the pork
12 oz of pork shoulder meat
1/2 tsp of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Soak the glutinous rice with hot water for 40 minutes.

Cut the pork shoulder meat into bite-size pieces, then marinate it with soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, and five-spice powder for at least 1 hour. If you don't eat pork, feel free to change it to chicken thigh or beef.

Fill a big pot with water and add the bamboo leaves (It is ok to bend the leaves and use something heavy to press them under the water). Bring it to a boil, turn off the heat and let the bamboo leaves soak on the side while prepping the rest of the ingredients.

Drain the glutinous rice thoroughly. Add oil, diced shallots, and minced garlic to a wok. Saute over medium-low heat until the aromatics are lightly golden.

Add the well-drained glutinous rice and stir over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Season the rice with soy sauce and dark soy sauce, then remove from the wok and set it aside.

Take the bamboo leaves out and wipe off the moisture with paper towels. As you are doing this, you should be able to distinguish the rough and smooth sides. The rough side has an obvious stem; it should not be in contact with the rice when wrapping.

Partially stack two bamboo leaves with the pointy tips facing each other and the smooth side facing up. Then, fold it from one-third of the length into an ice cream cone. Be sure to over lab the corner, so the rice will not fall out.

Put some glutinous rice in the bamboo cone. Add some pork pieces, then fill up the rest of the space with more glutinous rice. Use your thumbnail and forefinger to hold the shape, then fold the upper leaves down. Continue to wrap it along the surface and follow the shape of the zongzi. Once done, you should get a pyramid shape. Tie it with a few cycles of kitchen twine.

Fill a big pot with water and add your zongzi. The water should be enough to cover all the zongzi. Bring it to a boil and turn the heat to low. Simmer for 2.5 hours.

Remove the Zongzi from the water and enjoy!

[SoupedUpRecipes]

Happy Dragon Boat Festival! Let me know have you had Zongzi before? If so, what is your favorite Zongzi?

[DC-sdlw]

I’ve tried dozens of your recipes now & they’ve all turned out amazing. So much better than takeaway! My family now ask me to make Chinese food at least once a week. Thank you so much for your teaching

[ladyinjkt]

Happy Dragon Boat Festival, i am teow chew, we call it chang, stuffed sticky rice with marinated pork, pork sausage, peanut, chesnut, mushroom and salted egg yolk, eat with chili garlic sauce and sweet soy sauce. Love the small version of chang as well, sticky rice soaked with alkaline water, eat that with powder sugar or coconut egg paste (kaya) and drink coffee 👍. By the way, thanks for sharing technique how to wrap🙏, will try to do my own next year

[miaw.]

This is, hands down one of the best beginner friendly recipes I have sourced. The other long format recipes are great too but not everyone has the time or hands to coordinate that😅. Thank you Mandy for thinking of those of us just starting out on our culinary adventure through Chinese cuisine 😄

[VikiAnderson]

I remember watching my grandmother make these back in the 1960’s. They were always a mystery to me, but you make them look so much easier.

[Sco]

I didn't know how the presentation of the video could be improved but I love this format! The floating camera and different camera angles make it feel like a food network show. I really like the classic end where you're eating the food and describing it as you are eating it. It makes me feel like I'm eating it too and having a conversation about why it's so good.
Great video and it seems very simple just a little time consuming but I can't wait to give this recipe a shot!

[lisahinton]

"Hi, ☺️ Hi, Mandy! This reminds me of making Mexican tamales - seasoned carb and meat wrapped in fragrant leaves, and cooked slowly for a long time. So delicious! I cannot wait for Arizona to cool down again (five-and-a-half months until mid-November, sadly enough!) so I can try this. (Cuz ain't NO WAY I am turning that stove on for more than ten minutes these summer days! Ha!) Your videos always help me to learn something new, and every single one of your videos' recipes that I have tried has been delicious, and I am sure this one will be the same. Thank you, Mandy!

[VixenRouge]

Having ADHD makes it difficult (dangerous) for me to cook anything that takes more than 5~10min (without ending up burning the house down), but watching your videos while I eat greatly overhauls anything I wrangled together! And it's so interesting and inspiring! I love the cultural details!

[ChocoGarfind]

I love zhong zi and this recipe looks quite easy ! And love the new setting for this video, it's gorgeous !

[a.v.-anthoula]

Love these! First time I tried them was over 30 yrs ago and I bought one from the grannies selling them on the street in our local Chinatown. It was delicious and I would always go back to get more. I have never forgotten the first taste. After a couple of years, the city stopped the grannies from selling. Still the best ones I ever had.

[christophiszot]

Love this. I had zongzi but did not make it myself; bought it in the Asian Market in Antwerp (Belgium). I always bought a ton, so I could freeze them and every once and a while I boiled one or two and enjoyed it so much. However, they also stuffed it with shi take and nuts, not only meat. I would love to try yours, thanks to explain it so clearly. You are the best teacher!

[grandmauti]

Now i understand how to wrapped properly, after watched this video for many times thanks for sharing, love from indonesia

[LuckyTondi]

I love Zongzi! My friends gave me a lot of them for the Dragon Boat Festival, haha! They have pork, peanuts, shiitake mushrooms, and a salted duck egg yolk! Yum!

[juliawynn]

Mandy! My mommy spent hours upon hours making this utterly delicious dumplings!!! oh, she'd make so many of them that it is an event! we all love her sticky rice dumplings!! it is also an occasion too! thank you for showing how to make it!

[technoforever]

You've come such a long way, Mandy, so very proud of you and wish you blessings! I love your recipes and instructions, you're the cutest ever! 🥰

[davidlaw]

Love watching your presentation, always. Very well spoken and very typically Chinese. Jiayou mei nu.

[mikegrossberg]

I first tried this dish in a dim sum restaurant. Didn't know what they were, but decided to be adventurous.
Some day I might decide to be adventurous again, and try making my OWN.
Thanks for showing me how to do it!

[kelvinliew]

Miss, thank you so much for your sharing, especially the wrapping part. My leaves were a little short this time round. I tried your wrapping method and that really saved my day. Thank you so much again

[yr]

I used to sit next to my grandma as a small kid, watching her wrapping zongzi for me, I remember it looked very magicalXD. She left me a few year ao:( but I will always remember her with this nice memory with zongzi! btw, I'm from the north China, we don't use meat, but only with sweet dates or beans paste. I thought it was weird when I heard they use meat in the south, but when I tried them brought by a friend, it was DELICIOUS!thank you for making this video and letting more people know about this traditional food!:D

[Ekcmd]

Excellent video!
Your instructions are very clearly explained and the procedure is very well presented!! I really appreciate that you show all the important detailed small steps which other videos do not show 😊❤
Thanks so much for your hard work in teaching the often very difficult technique! 😌🙏

Love all your videos !!