Beef zongzi
Souped Up Recipes · ♥ 2.1K likes · 37.5K views · 10 min video
Read about roasts in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- glutinous rice
Soak the glutinous rice about six hours, or one hour in water as hot as the hands can tolerate but not boiling. Unsoaked rice gums up on the outside and blocks moisture from reaching the centre, leaving semi-cooked dumplings.
Zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival
Soak the dried mushrooms one hour to rehydrate.
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ inch ginger
Grate four cloves of garlic and half an inch of ginger into the beef.
- 1 piece fermented bean curd
Add one large piece of fermented bean curd, or two smaller store-bought ones.
Fermented bean curd and the sauces
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp salt
Add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and salt. The sodium looks high for the amount of beef, but the meat is surrounded by rice and simmered in a large pot of water so some of it leaches out.
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp five spice powder
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder
- 1 tbsp chili flake
- ½ tbsp brown sugar
- 24 whole bamboo leaves
Add the black pepper, five spice powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, chili flake and brown sugar, mix really well and marinate in the fridge one hour.
Keep the prepared bamboo leaves under a damp towel so they do not dry out.
Check the rice by crushing a grain between the fingers; if it crushes easily it is ready. Drain completely.
- cooking oil
- shallot
- scallions
Over low heat fry a few tablespoons of oil with diced shallot and scallion for a few minutes until golden brown, for aroma.
- 4 tsp dark soy sauce
Add the drained rice and four teaspoons of dark soy sauce and stir over medium heat a few minutes until the grains are slightly sticky, which makes them easier to shape and wrap.
- 12 whole salted egg yolks
Squeeze the soaked mushrooms out and stir them into the beef to absorb flavour.
Mushrooms and salted egg yolks
Stack two leaves partially, smooth non-stick sides up with the pointy tips in the middle. Flip the leaf over at a third of its length, fold the side at a quarter of the width and open it into a triangular pocket.
Hold the pocket, scoop in a few spoons of rice and spread it out, add two pieces of mushroom, one salted egg yolk and one piece of marinated beef, then cover with another layer of rice and pack it tight and smooth.
Fold the upper leaves over with some force to set the shape, squeeze from below and fold the edges down on both sides, then pinch the end of the leaf and fold it along the shape, holding it with a thumb.
- water
Bring a big pot of water to a boil, drop the zongzi in, wait for it to come back to a boil and press them down with a plate, topping up with hot water so they are immersed.