Zongzi - Chinese bamboo leaf wraps (粽子)

In Ancient China, that is 4th century BC, a famous poet Qu Yuan was very unhappy about the policies of the government in his kingdom. In protest, he committed a ritual suicide by walking into a river. He was a major celebrity so distraught people tried to retrieve his body but to no avail. Every river for the Ancient Chinese was governed by a dragon king. To appease it and let it help them find Qu Yuan's body, they would throw lumps of cooked rice into the water. They never found it but this tradition has been preserved in the Dragon Boat Festival to these days.

It is a festival dish and, as it goes, quite time-consuming. They must have really loved Qu Yuan to throw these precious darlings into the river. They can be made sweet or savoury with a wide variety of ingredients but this is how I make them:

1. Soak 40-50 bamboo leaves overnight in warm water. Soak 10 dry shiitake with 4 cups of sticky rice. in lukewarm water, soak half a cup of peanuts in cold water. Soak in cold water. Don't do all that in one pot!
2. Next day: slice the mushrooms 2-3mm thick, cut 2 chicken breasts into short thin slivers, julienne 2 bamboo shoots and 3 carrots.
3. Heat 3 tablespoonfuls of odourless vegetable oil in wok and add a tablespoonful of five-spice powder. Fry until fragrant.
4. Add the mix from Step 2 and the soaked peanuts and sauté. Add soya sauce to taste.
   

Wrap the rice and the chicken/veg mix into bamboo leaves as shown in this video:



Steam the wraps in a bamboo sieve for an hour.