Every Dragon Boat Festival, I’ve enjoyed the tasty delight that is glutinous rice with various fillings wrapped inside bamboo leaves – yes I’m talking about zongzi. Delicious, steamy goodness, sometimes with a surprise inside, because you just don’t know what filling lies within the sticky rice pyramid.
Growing up in Singapore – which tends to follow South China traditions – the more popular choice is nyonya zongzi, which is typically filled with meat. Whereas here in Beijing, sweet fillings like red bean paste are more common. While I will dare to suggest that cheese and corn would make for scrumptious zongzi fillings, I have even discovered durian and ice cream among some of the more unusual options out there.
Instead of simply buying our zongzi this year, I decided to put my kid’s craft/cooking skills to the test and got him to make our very own zongzi! We roped in our neighbor’s kid for companionship and support, and off we went!
Scan the QR code or go to our WeChat Video Channel to see expat kids (try to) wrap zongzi!
Images: Opensource, Vivienne Tseng-Rush
