China has a vast territory, and different fillings are used for making zongzi in every place, so many different flavors of zongzi are derived. Zongzi, a steamed food made by wrapping glutinous rice with Zongzi leaves, is one of the traditional festival foods in China. Zongzi, as one of the traditional foods with the deepest historical and cultural accumulation in China, is widely spread. The custom of eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival has been popular in China for thousands of years, and even spread to East Asian countries.
Zongzi, or Zongzi Zan, is made of glutinous rice and stuffing and wrapped with bamboo leaves (or Hiragi leaves, bamboo leaves, etc.). ) and has various shapes such as sharp corners and quadrangles. Zongzi has a long history, originally as a tribute to ancestors and gods. North and South have different names. Millet is produced in the north, and glutinous rice is made into zongzi, which is angular. In ancient north, it was called "corn millet". In terms of taste, zongzi can be divided into salty zongzi and sweet zongzi.
Because of the different eating habits in different places, zongzi has formed a north-south flavor; From the stuffing point of view, there are dates wrapped in jiaozi in the north; In the south, there are many kinds of fillings, such as mung bean, pork belly, red bean paste, eight treasures, ham, mushrooms, egg yolk and so on. Among them, Guangdong bacon zongzi and Zhejiang Jiaxing zongzi are the representatives.
Cultural customs of zongzi
Zongzi is a kind of "blessing" and a tribute used by people to worship their ancestors in festivals. It is an ancient traditional custom to give blessings to ancestors at festivals. There are many kinds of glutinous rice, and different kinds of glutinous rice will be made in different festivals. Zongzi is a tribute to the ancestors of the gods during the Dragon Boat Festival.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contains "alkali", millet is wrapped in leaves and boiled into a quadrangle, which is called Guangdong alkaline water zongzi. Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional custom in China. Hiragi leaves, Indocalamus leaves or reed leaves are mainly used to make zongzi, which are collectively called zongzi leaves. The traditional form of zongzi is a triangle, which is generally named after the inner pulp.
Zongzi has many shapes, reflecting different regional characteristics. Zongzi not only has many shapes, but also has different varieties. Due to the different tastes in different parts of China, there are mainly two kinds: sweet and salty. Sweet dumplings include white dumplings, red bean dumplings, broad bean dumplings, red date dumplings, rose dumplings, melon seeds dumplings, red bean paste lard dumplings, jujube paste lard dumplings and so on.
Salty taste: pork jiaozi, ham jiaozi, sausage jiaozi, shrimp dumplings, diced pork jiaozi, etc. But there are more pork dumplings. There are also Hiragi leaves, egg yolk, meat stuffing, jiaozi (Hainan), assorted jiaozi, bean paste, jiaozi, mushrooms and other southern flavors; There is also a sweet and salty "double dumpling". These zongzi all have different tastes.