Pork zongzi
Souped Up Recipes · ♥ 1.6K likes · 34.1K views · 8 min video
Read about pork belly in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- glutinous rice
- hot water
Soak the glutinous rice in hot water one hour, hot as the hands can tolerate but not boiling so it does not cook.
- 14 oz pork belly
- ½ tsp five spice powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- ½ tsp salt
Marinate the skin-on pork belly with five spice powder, garlic powder, soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and salt.
Cook the mei gan cai with water 15 minutes to reduce its sodium, drain, squeeze out the excess moisture, rinse once more and drain again.
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 3 tbsp diced shallot
- 3 tbsp minced scallion
Over medium heat add the cooking oil, minced garlic, diced shallot and minced scallion, and saute over low heat a few minutes until the edges of the aromatics turn lightly golden.
Add the rinsed mei gan cai and keep stirring over medium heat; sauteing mellows its bitter astringent edge and brings out its savory aroma.
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Season with a tablespoon of soy sauce; it should taste saltier than usual because salt leaches out during the long simmer.
- 24–30 whole bamboo leaves
Wash the fresh bamboo leaves thoroughly, or rehydrate dried ones, and keep them under a damp towel.
Preparing the bamboo leaves
Check the soaked rice by crushing a grain between the fingers, then drain it completely.
- cooking oil
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
Over medium heat stir the drained rice with a few tablespoons of cooking oil and two teaspoons of dark soy sauce a few minutes until slightly sticky, which makes it easier to shape and wrap.
The rough side of the leaf has a convex stem and faces out; the non-stick smooth side touches the rice.
Partially stack two leaves smooth side up with a stem on each side, fold slightly off centre into an ice cream cone, overlapping the corner so no rice escapes; the two stems should sandwich the pointy tips.
Part-fill the cone with rice, poke it into the corner with a chopstick, add two pieces of pork and some mei gan cai, fill with more rice and pack it tight with a spoon.
Fold the upper leaves down, fold each side edge down, pinch the front and fold it to the side to give a pyramid, then tie with a few circles of kitchen twine.
Bring a big pot of water to a boil, drop the zongzi in and lay a plate on top to keep them submerged.