Cantonese-Style Zongzi (Sticky Rice Dumplings 廣式粽)

Get ready for the Dragon Boat Festival with Aunty’s Cantonese-style Zongzi! These sticky rice dumplings are parcels of love best made and enjoyed by the whole family. They’re wrapped using a fragrant Cantonese filling with mung beans, Chinese sausages, mushrooms, salted egg yolks and dried shrimp!

A cooking experience that brings the whole community together

I’ve wanted to learn how to make Aunty’s Cantonese-style Zongzi since I was a little girl. It wasn’t because I loved the flavors of the dumplings (far from it in fact! It wasn’t until I was an adult that I began to crave the taste).

I actually wanted to learn how to make her signature dumplings from scratch because every time the annual Dragon Boat Festival (端午節) came around, she would invite all the other aunties and uncles over to help wrap and cook them.

It was a whole day’s affair!

And that’s the memory I wanted to keep with me forever. One way I knew I could do that was through cooking it myself. Just like Chả Giò (Vietnamese Spring Rolls), Nem Nướng (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Skewers) and Wonton Egg Noodle Soup (港式云吞面), these community dishes ignite the sweetest food memories filled with your closest family and friends.

Now you can learn how to make Aunty’s Cantonese-style Zongzi with me too!

What is Zongzi?

Zongzi, also known as ‘joong’ in Cantonese, are sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves. There are many variations, but you can find ones that have a filling and some that don’t. You can also make joong either sweet or savory.

They’re actually a type of tamale as the cooking process involves each one being boiled until cooked.

Their signature look is a sticky glutinous rice casing that wraps around a filling signature to the person making it. The taste is perfumed by the bamboo or reed leaves that are used to wrap each dumpling.

When should I eat zongzi?

The answer: Whenever you want to!

At home, we usually only have it when the Dragon Boat Festival season is here because that’s when there’s an abundance of Cantonese-style Zongzi. There are a few ways of getting them here in Australia: Families either make them at home as part of a huge home project, someone in the family orders them from well-known joong makers or people simply buy them from shops.

This happens once every year on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese Lunar calendar to celebrate the Duanwu Festival (a.k.a. Dragon Boat Festival).

But that’s not to say that you can’t make Cantonese-style Zongzi whenever the craving strikes!

You can also buy joong from Chinese or Vietnamese grocery stores outside of the festive period. Just keep in mind that different stores will have different stock availabilities.

Which leaves should I use?

When wrapping Cantonese-style Zongzi, bamboo or reed leaves are the main choices. They give off a wonderful floral fragrance after they’re cooked, which is why they’re such popular leaves for wrapping.

You’ll often find them sold dried and in plastic packets. They’re relatively long and taper off into a point on one end. Preparing them for wrapping a dumpling is fairly easy – it’s simply a matter of boiling and wiping.

Just note that they’re not the same as the banana leaves, which are the ones used to wrap Bánh Giò (Vietnamese Pork Pyramid Dumplings). Banana leaves have a fantastic aroma but a slightly different texture and scent to bamboo or reed leaves.

Once you get your hands on some dehydrated joong leaves, you’re one step closer to making homemade Cantonese-style Zongzi!

Why this recipe works

• Marinating the pork belly with five spice adds an aromatic flavor kick.
• The combination of salted egg yolks and Chinese sausages gives the filling an exciting sweet and savory taste.
• Using mung beans means every bite of your Cantonese-style Zongzi is creamy and nutty.

What you’ll need

For the rice

About the grains

It’s important that when making savory Cantonese-style Zongzi that you use glutinous rice. Not only does it compliment the texture and flavor of each ingredient, it also expands and becomes sticky as it cooks to envelop the filling so it stays in the dumpling.

Also, don’t be alarmed by the high salt content! It will release into the water as it boils.

For the filling

About the ingredients

When buying mung beans, opt for the peeled split mung beans to save yourself the extra work of peeling each one yourself.

You can also buy salted egg yolks frozen in Chinese supermarkets or refrigerated from Chinese goods stores. If you have any leftovers, save them for cooking with mooncakes, baos, chips or prawns.

Cantonese joong is often filled with Chinese sausages, mushrooms, salted egg yolks and seasoned pork belly. Another option is to add dried chestnuts for added texture.

For the mushrooms, we bought the smaller versions but you can use larger ones too. Just halve them so they fit better inside.

For the wrapping

About the string

Cantonese-style Zongzi needs to be tied using a strong string that can withstand hours in hot water. At home, we often use twine or a PHD plastic strings. So long as the string can secure the bamboo leaf wrapping around each dumpling and stay in tact during cooking, they’ll work well.

How to make this recipe

The night before

Rinse the glutinous rice 3 times in a large bowl using cool water. Pour 1L (4.22 US cup) water into the bowl along with 1 tsp salt and stir it through. Let it soak overnight.

Do the same with the mung beans by rinsing them 3 times with cool water in a separate large bowl or until the water runs clear. Add 1.5L (6.3 US cup) water into the bowl and 2 tsp salt, then mix it in and let it sit overnight.

Pro Tip: If you need to rehydrate the shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp or dried chestnuts, rinse and soak them in cool water as well and let them rest overnight with the soaking grains and mung beans. This will save you from having to do it the next morning.

Prepping the ingredients

On the morning of making your Cantonese-style Zongzi, transfer the soaked rice into a colander and let it drip dry for a minimum of 20 minutes.

In a separate colander, pour in the mung beans and let the liquid drain out of them for a minimum of 20 minutes as well.

After the 20 minutes, season the grains with 4 tbsp salt and mix it in well. Pour 1 US cup oil onto the rice a little at a time while stirring it through. Leave it as is until it’s ready to be used.

Meanwhile, cut the pork belly into large chunks, roughly 3cm (1.2″) thick. Marinate them with 3 tbsp five spice (or enough to cover the pieces), 1 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tbsp salt.

Let it rest while you work on preparing the other ingredients.

Squeeze the liquid out of each soaked shiitake mushroom and use scissors to remove the stems.

Note: You can discard the mushroom water or save it as a braising liquid for chicken, mushrooms, sea cucumber or abalone.

Marinate the shiitake mushrooms with 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder and 1 tbsp oil. Let it rest as you work on the Chinese sausages.

Slice the Chinese sausages at an angle roughly 1cm (0.4″) thick.

Aunty’s Tip: Don’t cut them too thin, otherwise you won’t be able to taste much of it in the filling.

Stir the rehydrated shrimp in until thoroughly incorporated.

Preparing the leaves

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and pour in 1 US cup oil. There needs to be enough water to cover all the leaves. Add the dried bamboo leaves in to cook for 5-10 minutes or until they’ve turned dark and tender.

When ready, transfer them into a colander to dry.

To dry the leaves, line your table with a damp cloth. Place one leaf on top of the flat cloth and use another damp cloth to gently wipe both sides dry. Repeat until all are wiped.

Pro Tip: This is the perfect time to get the family involved, especially children! Getting someone else to wipe will give you more time to work on the rest of the steps for your Cantonese-style Zongzi.

How to wrap the joong

Line 5 bamboo leaves in one line from top to bottom with each leaf slightly overlapping the one above it. You can use more if you feel that the leaves aren’t big enough.

Scoop roughly 2 tbsp of the rice and shrimp and pour it into the middle of the bamboo leaves. Spread the mixture out to make a square roughly 12cm (4.7″) wide.

Scoop 1.5-2 tbsp of the mung bean filling and pour it over the rice. Flatten the beans over the top to create a thin layer.

Assemble your toppings. At home, we usually put the salted egg yolk in the middle, the Chinese sausages on 2 corners, the pork belly on the opposite corners and the mushrooms in the gaps between the egg yolk and sausages.

Note: Which toppings you choose to add for your Cantonese-style Zongzi will depend on your personal preference. You can add more or less of any ingredient you like.

Pour 2-3 tbsp of the mung beans over the toppings, spreading it out to cover as much of the toppings as you can.

Pro Tip: Scoop 1/2 tbsp at a time to distribute it evenly.

Scoop 3 tbsp of the grains and shrimp over the mung beans to cover everything completely.

Lay 2-3 bamboo leaves over the last layer of grains. Make sure they cover everything.

To wrap, fold the leaves on the top half of the joong over the leaves that were placed on top of the rice. Make sure to place a firm hand over the folded leaves to keep them together.

Repeat with the bottom: Bring the leaves on the bottom half of the joong over the leaves that were placed on top of the rice.

While holding everything together tightly, bring the bottom opening to the edge of your table or countertop until the edge meets the end of the rice filling.

Fold the bamboo leaves down using the edge of your table or countertop and then back up to envelop the bottom of the joong.

This step is similar to sealing the flap of an envelope, except the letter is the rice filling.

Rotate the Cantonese-style Zongzi 180° and fold the top the same way until you have a parcel.

Pro Tip: Make sure the leaves are wrapped tightly around the filling, the same way Gỏi Cuốn (Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls) are. This will help to keep everything inside.

How to tie the joong

Tuck a piece of string under the top third of the dumpling.

Bring the two ends of the string together and tie it like you would at the start of tying shoe laces. Make sure that it’s not too loose.

Tie it again to make a secure knot.

Rotate the string so that it stretches across the length of the joong, then tuck it underneath to wrap around the length.

Hold the Cantonese-style Zongzi with one hand and use your fingers to keep the string in place while you wrap more of the string around the middle of the joong.

Bring the string down to the bottom third of the dumpling and wrap it around so that the whole joong ends up with a grid of 8 rectangles. Wrap the string around to the front and tie a secure knot to hold everything in place.

Optional: Tie a shorter string at two different points to create a handle. This will make it easier to scoop the Cantonese-style Zongzi out of the pot when they’re cooked.

Cooking and serving the dumplings

Place the dumplings into a large pot and pour cold water in until it just covers each one. Bring the heat up to high and let it come to a simmer. Once it reaches that point, keep the heat on medium or so that the water is just simmering the entire time.

Cook the Cantonese-style Zongzi for 2 hours, checking on the water level every 30 minutes. If the water level is below the joong, add hot or boiling water until it covers them again.

When ready, take them out and place them in a colander to drip dry.

Serve immediately as is, with sugar or sliced and pan fried until crisp on the outside!

Recipe FAQs

Tips for the best results

• Use larger leaves. They make it much easier to wrap with as there are fewer openings for the filling to fall out from.
• Get fattier pork belly pieces. This will give each joong a more fragrant taste and make each bite juicer.
• Keep the heat at a consistent simmer. Avoid boiling the Cantonese-style Zongzi because you want the filling be cooked through and the bamboo leaf flavor infused into each dumpling.
• Avoid overstuffing. The more you put in the filling, the higher the chance of the filling coming out as your wrap or cook.

Our family’s favorite dumpling dishes

• Ham Sui Gok (Fried Glutinous Rice Dumplings 咸水角) – These dim sums are a family treat! Each fried, chewy and flavorful dumpling will take you right back to your favorite yum cha restaurant.
• Teochew Png Kueh (Sticky Rice Dumplings 紅桃粿) – You won’t find a recipe quite like Aunty’s online. They’re incredibly fragrant and cooked with peanuts for added texture.
• Bánh Bôt Loc (Vietnamese Shrimp and Pork Dumplings) – These are one of my favorite ways to enjoy a bite-sized snack. They’re simple but taken to the next level with some homemade Nước Mắm (Vietnamese Dipping Sauce).
• Bánh Giò (Vietnamese Pork Pyramid Dumplings) – You haven’t tried a dumpling until you’ve had our pork pyramid ones. They’re made using a sticky flour dough for a soft and tender mouthful!

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This post was originally published on 2/6/203and updated with new recipe links in June 2023.

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