I ’ ll be using both the chinese son “ zongzi ” and the terminus “ awkward rice dumpling ” interchangeably in this article. While enjoyed by and large during the 2000-year-old chinese Duan Wu Festival ( Duānwǔ Jié 端午节 ) or Dragon Boat Festival, these rice dumplings can be enjoyed any time of the year .
If you ’ ve always had any sticky rice dumpling, you know that at the end of the day, these delectable packets of sticky rice and pork barrel are well worth the feat to hunt them down or make them yourself at home !
What Makes Shanghai-Style Zongzi Different?
The major difference between Shanghai Style Pork Zongzi ( 上海肉粽子 ) and yue Style Pork Zongzi is its use of both light soy sauce and dark soy sauce .
Like the celebrated Shanghai Braised Pork Belly, when you have the correct combination of light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and Shaoxing wine, just a few ingredients can produce an extraordinary flavor that stands the test of clock time .
Notes on Ingredients
Ok, let ’ s get into the logistics of making a good Shanghai-Style Pork Zongzi, with more details on some of the ingredients .
Soy Sauce
How much soy sauce you use is equitable vitamin a authoritative as the brand you use, as the season and levels of saltiness truly do differ between brands. I like to use Pearl River Bridge .
barely then you know before you buy, Pearl River Bridge ’ s lightly soy sauce is pretty piquant, but it barely adds any color, whereas dark soy sauce adds an intensely rich semblance, but is just lightly salted .
Use your choose brands, but be mindful of their saltiness since this recipe requires a draw of both lighter and dark soy sauce. It ’ randomness best to taste them beforehand to get a smell !
Pork Fat
Another key component for this Shanghai-Style Pork Zongzi is the pork barrel fatness, i.e. pork barrel abdomen. Pork adipose tissue does wonders for the gluey rice and I promise, it will not taste greasy or fatty at all–everything merely melts in your mouth .
I know the adjacent wonder will be about substitutions. I tested this recipe with pork barrel abdomen and pork barrel shoulder, and with a minor piece of pork abdomen and pork shoulder combined to get a happy medium .
The results weren ’ thymine “ felicitous adequate ” though, so I suggest using entirely pork belly, but try to find a lean reduce that has the perfect kernel to fat ratio. If you insist on using lean pork barrel, you can use pork barrel shoulder .
Chestnuts (Optional)
Most boughten Shanghai Style Pork Zongzi have just gluey rice and pork barrel. If you like, you can toss in one or two ready-to-eat roasted chestnuts per awkward rice dumpling, but in general, I don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate like to add besides many add-ons or over-spice the meat, as it takes away from the pure, traditional flavors !
A Note On Cooking
last, you should know that cooking sticky rice dumplings requires a long time. It ’ s a commitment to make them, but the actual cook clock time is quite long ( though it does vary on the sticky rice dumpling size and how tightly you wrap the intertwine ) .
After making zongzi for a few years, I ’ ve learned that there is no need to overstuff the sticky rice dumpling as rice needs room to expand during cook. Nor is there a motivation to wrap the string excessively tightly for fear that they ’ ll fall apart .
once all the openings in the bamboo leaves are well tucked and concealed, the string will go about naturally, and there shouldn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate be any excessive tension or visible bulges. You can probably track my skill level of making zongzi over the years through our recipe photograph ! hour angle !
These tips will make your life easier and reduce the cook fourth dimension. All told, I cooked my big batch of sticky rice dumplings for 4½ hours and left them in the pot without opening the lid overnight .
This recipe makes 30-35 pieces. I know, it ’ s a lot. But trust me, when you go through all the homework, you want a fortune at the end ! Plus, I always gift some to my mother and her friends, and I ’ thousand plan on dropping some off for my cousin and her class. Feel free to halve the recipe if you want a smaller batch. All the fudge times will remain the same .
Can You Use a Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot?
If you want to cook them in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, you will need about an hour with the maximum body of water level allowed. Be sure to adjust the water level accordingly. You ’ ll besides have to make them in batches based on the size of your Instant Pot .
We have full, detailed instructions in our post on How to Cook Zongzi in an Instant Pot .
To assemble the zongzi, you’ll need:
- 75-80 dried bamboo leaves ( 2 to 3 leaves per zongzi )
- 5 pounds uncooked brusque grain sticky rice ( besides called gluey rice, or “ gratifying rice ” )
- 3 pounds pork belly ( and/or pork barrel shoulder )
- Kitchen twine to tie the zongzi
For the pork marinade, you’ll need:
For the rice marinade, you’ll need:
The night before:
Soak the zongzi leaves by weighing them down in a roll of water with a heavy object. They should be wholly submerged .
In a bombastic container, soak the gluey rice in water, making sure the water flat is 3-4 inches above the rice, as it will expand well as it soaks .
Cut the pork barrel belly into 1-inch adam 2-inch chunks. Combine the pork barrel with all the marinade ingredients except the urine ( the easy soy sauce sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, sugar, Shaoxing wine, white pepper, and five-spice powder ), and mix everything well. It may seem like a lot of salt, but the rice will absorb the saltiness during the cook process. If there is no visible liquid after mixing, add water, 2 tablespoons at a time. pork can soak up a draw of liquid and the liquid will help to keep it damp. The pork marinade should be wet, but without excessively much liquid pool at the bottom .
The next day:
completely drain the rice using a fine-meshed colander or sieve. Mix in the rice marinade ingredients ( the clean soy sauce, dark soy sauce, carbohydrate, and salt ), and mix everything well. Set aside, and marinade for about 30 minutes .
In the interim, wash each leaf presence and back with a soft fabric, and rinse. Transfer them to a stadium of fresh water until you ’ re fix to wrap your gluey rice dumplings so they don ’ triiodothyronine dry out .
Lay out all the components : the pork barrel, the rice, zongzi leaves, and kitchen string. now you ’ re ready to start wrapping zongzi ! Follow the bit-by-bit photos on how to wrap them here, but here are a few tips for achiever :
- You must cut away at least ½ ” off the buttocks of––that incision is excessively coarse and unmanageable to work with .
- Make sure the kitchen string is high quality. To prevent it from breaking, you can besides soak it in a bowling ball of water. It ’ sulfur besides effective to tie one end of the string to an anchor point ( like your kitchen bury ) because you ’ ll only have one pass to tie the zongzi. The other hand will be holding the zongzi together. In my character, I just use my teeth to hold one end of the twist. Made with sleep together, right ? : )
- If leaves rip anywhere during the wrap process, you ’ ll indigence to start over and discard the rip leaf. That ’ sulfur why I call for more leaves than are technically needed. Some of the leaves are bound to get rip !
- There will be visible sauce at the bottom of the rice when you get to the end, merely drain it out once you start to see this, as you don ’ metric ton want any surfeit liquid in the zongzi .
To cook the zongzi…
neatly and tightly nest all the zongzi in a large soup pot. ideally, there will be no visible gaps. If necessary, put a large heatproof plate directly on top of the zongzi to weigh them down. Fill the potentiometer with cold water until they are wholly submerged .
station the potentiometer on the stave all over eminent heat. Once the water boils, turn the heat to medium-low, and let it simmer for at least 4-5 hours. The water should be “ moving ” at a light simmer ; decidedly not boiling. Check the pot reasonably often to make sure the zongzi are always submerged in water. Add lone boiling water system so the water temperature never gets excessively first gear .
eminence : You can cook them faster using an moment Pot ( pawl here for instructions ). It will take barely 90 minutes, as opposed to respective hours .
To serve the zongzi…
For savory gluey rice dumplings, it ’ mho best to eat them when they ’ re hot or at least ardent. No condiments necessary, but sometimes Kaitlin likes to add chili oil to hers. She is weird, but you can be wyrd excessively if you want. As a side note, if you are eating fresh zongzi, they are actually best at board temperature or slightly chilled. The gluey rice becomes even more delightfully chewy when chilled !
To reheat the zongzi…
Boil them in water for at least 15 minutes if they are cold/refrigerated, and for 30 minutes if they are freeze .
To store the zongzi…
You can refrigerate them for up to a week. If you need more time to eat them, it ’ sulfur best to freeze them in a heavy-duty resealable bag .
See our Shanghai locomotion post during Duan Wu Chinese holiday in China – China ’ mho Dragon Boat Festival & Rice Dumplings Galore and try our other favorite Zongzi muggy rice dumpling recipes !
glad Duanwu Festival / Duānwǔ Jié ( 端午节 ) / Dragon Boat Festival !
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Shanghai Style Pork Zongzi (Sticky Rice Dumplings)
Zongzi, or sticky rice dumplings, are almost like a Chinese version of the tamale––sticky rice is wrapped in bamboo leaves with other fillings, and steamed. This recipe makes about 3 dozen!
serves:
36
Prep:
12
hours
Cook:
4
hours
Total:
16
hours
Ingredients
To assemble the zongzi, you’ll need:
-
▢
75-80 dried bamboo leaves ( 2 to 3 leaves per zongzi )
-
▢
5 pounds uncooked short grain sticky rice ( besides called gluey rice, or “ angelic rice ” )
-
▢
3 pounds pork barrel abdomen ( and/or pork barrel shoulder )
-
▢
Kitchen intertwine to tie the zongzi
For the pork marinade, you’ll need:
-
▢
¼ cup light soy sauce
-
▢
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
-
▢
4 teaspoons salt
-
▢
5
Read more: Old Fashioned Peach Dumplings Recipe
tablespoons boodle
-
▢
3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
-
▢
1 teaspoon white pepper
-
▢
1 teaspoon five spice powder
-
▢
¼ cup water ( you may not need this, but if you do, you ’ ll add 2 tablespoons at a time )
For the rice marinade, you’ll need:
-
▢
5 tablespoons light soy sauce
-
▢
5 tablespoons dark soy sauce
-
▢
1½ tablespoons boodle
-
▢
2½ tablespoons salt
Instructions
- The night before : soak the zongzi leaves by weighing them down in a bowl of water with a heavy aim. They should be wholly submerged. In a large container, soak the gluey rice in water, making surely the water floor is 3-4 inches above the rice, as it will expand well as it soaks. Cut the pork barrel belly into 1-inch x 2-inch chunks. Combine the pork barrel with all the marinade ingredients except the water system ( the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, boodle, Shaoxing wine, flannel pepper, and five-spice powder ), and mix everything well. It may seem like a bunch of salt, but the rice will absorb the saltiness during the cook summons. If there is no visible liquid after mixing, total water system, 2 tablespoons at a time. pork can soak up a set of liquid and the liquid will help to keep it damp. The pork barrel marinade should be wet, but without besides much fluent pool at the bottom .
- The adjacent day : wholly drain the rice using a fine-meshed colander or sieve. Mix in the rice marinade ingredients ( the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, carbohydrate, and salt ), and mix everything well. Set aside, and marinade for about 30 minutes. In the interim, wash each leaf front and spinal column with a indulgent fabric, and wash. Transfer them to a bowl of fresh water until you ’ re ready to wrap the zongzi so they don ’ thyroxine dry out. Lay out all the components : the pork, the rice, zongzi leaves, and kitchen intertwine. now you ’ re ready to start wrapping zongzi ! Follow the bit-by-bit photos on how to wrap them. There will be visible sauce at the bottomland of the rice when you get to the end, merely drain it out once you start to see this, as you don ’ thymine want any excess liquid in the zongzi .
- To cook the zongzi, neatly and tightly nest all the zongzi in a large soup batch. ideally, there will be no visible gaps. If necessity, put a big heatproof denture directly on circus tent of the zongzi to weigh them down. Fill the pot with cold water until they are wholly submerged. Place the pot on the stave over high heat. Once the water system boils, turn the heating system to medium-low, and let it simmer for at least 4-5 hours. The water system should be “ moving ” at a light simmer ; decidedly not boiling. Check the toilet reasonably much to make sure the zongzi are constantly submerged in water system. Add entirely boiling body of water so the water temperature never gets besides low .
nutrition facts
Calories:
439
kcal
(22%)
Carbohydrates:
54
g
(18%)
Protein:
9
g
(18%)
Fat:
20
g
(31%)
Saturated Fat:
7
g
(35%)
Cholesterol:
27
mg
(9%)
Sodium:
991
mg
(41%)
Potassium:
137
mg
(4%)
Fiber:
2
g
(8%)
Sugar:
2
g
(2%)
Vitamin A:
5
IU
Vitamin C:
0.2
mg
Calcium:
11
mg
(1%)
Iron:
1.4
mg
(8%)
nutritional info disclaimer
Read more: Homemade Dumplings
TheWoksofLife.com is written and produced for informational purposes merely. While we do our best to provide nutritional information as a general guideline to our readers, we are not certifiable nutritionists, and the values provided should be considered estimates. Factors such as brands purchased, natural variations in fresh ingredients, etc. will change the nutritional information in any recipe. respective on-line calculators besides provide different results, depending on their sources. To obtain accurate nutritional data for a recipe, use your prefer nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities used .
