my family's most treasured recipe
our toisan-style joong for dragon boat festival
If there’s one traditional food from my culture I’d want to preserve forever, it’s my family’s Toisan-style savory joong (zongzi)!
If you haven’t heard of these before, they’re eaten during the annual Dragon Boat Festival. They’re sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves (some people call them Chinese tamales), and my family’s version is filled with marinated pork belly, Chinese sausage, homemade salted egg yolks, dried scallops & shrimp, peanuts, and mung beans.
The great thing about joong (zongzi) is that there are so many different versions across China — in the northern regions, you’ll find dessert versions, filled with jujubes or other sweet fillings.
In the southern regions, where my family is from, you’ll find more savory variations. And then there’s variations in between, and differences among each family’s.
Making these requires a few DAYS of preparation. And because my parents make their own salted egg yolks, they actually prepare 50 days in advance for this special occasion!
In addition to a ton of prep work, they also require incredible skill to wrap them. For these reasons, I worry that the art of making joong (zongzi) will become a lost piece of our culture if we don’t actively make an effort to learn it.
So 3 years ago, I watched, documented, and learned how to wrap our family’s Toisan-style savory joong. And I’d love to share it with you!
If you prefer to watch videos, here are a few:
If the fear of potentially losing a piece of your culture resonates, and you have loved ones still around, I encourage you to learn and preserve a cultural dish from your family! I promise you won’t regret it ❤️
Enjoy your weekend,
Susanna from smelly lunchbox
I miss the special ones my late mom made just for me, only Chinese sausage and sticky rice