ZongZi

In the previous post on Dragon Boat Festival, I said that the festival is associated with two things.  That post described the first thing...the dragon boat races.   This post describes the second thing......

On Dragon Boat Day, and the days leading up to it, you eat ZongZi

That's right.  You eat ZongZi.   The pronunciation, as close as I can represent it, is something like "dsong dsuh". 

ZongZi are bamboo leaves wrapped around a ball of sticky rice that encapsulates some meat or fish or bean or fruit.  It's kind of like a Tamale...but in China the leaf does not come from a corn stalk and for the stuffing the Chinese use rice instead of corn meal.

Anyways, these jobbers have been all over the place for the past month.  All the grocery stores have had them displayed out front and center.   And people at work have been bringing in homemade versions...made by their parents or in-laws.   Some have a sweet filling....like dates or bean paste...intended for desert.   Others have a savory filling....like barbecued pork or duck...intended for the main course.  They're all pretty good.  Not exactly diet food...but pretty tasty.