Rice Dumplings （Zongzi）

央視國際 2003年05月12日 16:17

　　Two thousand years ago， a loyal scholar， CheYun， jumped the river for he was discredited and found himself in disfavor from the Emperor. To remember his loyalty， rice offerings were sacrificed. In order to prevent the dragon from stealing them， the offerings consisted of bamboo tubes filled with glutinous rice. Thus came the invention of bamboo shaped rice dumpling.

　　Today's Zongzi is made with a serving of rice wrapped in leaves and tied together with string. The way the string is wound and knotted tells what ingredients are inside.

　　There are many different kinds of Zongzi， each with its own particular flavor， shape， and type of leaf for wrapping. Zongzi is usually four－sided with pointed， rounded ends， or in pyramid shapes. Sometimes it is in the shape of a cone or cylinder. The glutinous rice mixture is wrapped in leaves of palm or bamboo. Bamboo－leaf Zongzi is a speciality of South China.

　　As for flavor， the Beijing style is the sweetest， with coarse bean paste. Guangdong Zongzi is either sweet－tasting， with walnut， date or bean， or salty with filling ham， egg， meat， roast chicken.