Chinese

Serving

Zongzi (Sticky Rice Dumplings)

Name: Zongzi (Sticky Rice Dumplings)
Total time: 180 min
Yield: 1 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 cups Glutinous rice (soaked in water overnight); 1/2 lb Pork belly (cut into 1-inch cubes); 10 Dried bamboo leaves (soaked overnight and boiled for 10 minutes); 5 Salted duck egg yolks (halved); 1/4 cup Dried shrimp (soaked); 1/4 cup Shiitake mushrooms (soaked and sliced); 2 tbsp Dark soy sauce; 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine; 1 tsp Five-spice powder; Kitchen twine

Bamboo leaves wrapped around glutinous rice and various fillings, steamed to perfection.

180 minutes

Serves 1

Lunch/Snack

63 min prep

99 min cook

Contains common allergens

Egg Seafood Shellfish Soy Wheat

In the app, Listahan checks these against your household automatically.

Instructions

6 steps

1
Marinate the Pork: Toss the pork belly cubes with 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, five-spice powder, and a pinch of salt. Marinate overnight.
2
Prepare the Rice: Drain the soaked glutinous rice completely. Toss it with the remaining 1 tbsp dark soy sauce and a pinch of salt until evenly colored.
3
Form the Cone: Take two prepared bamboo leaves and overlap them slightly in opposite directions. Fold them in the middle to create a tight, leak-proof funnel or cone shape.
4
Fill: Place 2 tbsp of rice at the bottom of the cone. Add a piece of marinated pork, half a salted egg yolk, a few dried shrimp, and some mushrooms. Cover completely with another 2 tbsp of rice, pressing down firmly.
5
Wrap and Tie: Fold the top part of the leaves tightly over the open cone to seal it completely, creating a pyramid shape. Wrap tightly with kitchen twine, tying a firm knot so it doesn't expand and burst while cooking.
6
Boil: Place the wrapped Zongzi in a large pot and cover entirely with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer continuously for 2.5 to 3 hours. Drain, unwrap the leaves, and serve hot.

Zongzi (Sticky Rice Dumplings) — plated and served — Serving moment. How Zongzi (Sticky Rice Dumplings) looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

56/100

Works for many families

Allergen-friendly 50

Kid-friendly 55

Weeknight-easy 54

Budget-friendly 64

Great leftovers 87

Pantry-friendly 35

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

1985

Calories

100 g

Protein

300 g

Carbs

35 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

Zongzi are sticky rice parcels wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves and boiled or steamed until the rice becomes dense and fragrant with the grassy aroma of the leaves. They are intimately associated with the Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu), a holiday honoring the poet Qu Yuan who drowned himself in 278 BCE as an act of protest; legend holds that people threw rice into the river to distract fish from his body, which evolved into the wrapped zongzi eaten today. Regional variations are enormous, from savory Cantonese versions filled with pork belly, salted egg yolk, and chestnuts to the sweet red bean paste zongzi of the north.

Listahan note

This version follows the Cantonese savory style with seasoned glutinous rice, braised pork belly, and a salted egg yolk center, which is the richest and most satisfying iteration for a first-time maker.

Technique cues

Soak the glutinous rice for at least 4 hours and ideally overnight; insufficiently soaked rice will not fully hydrate during the steaming and will produce a hard, grainy texture inside the finished parcel.
Season the glutinous rice itself before wrapping, not just the filling; rice that is salted and given a touch of soy sauce and sesame oil makes every bite flavorful, not just the bites near the center filling.
Wrap the parcels as tightly as possible; loose wrapping allows water to seep in during boiling and dilutes the filling, and it also causes the rice to expand unevenly.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Start soaking the rice and bamboo leaves the night before; marinate the pork belly at the same time so that on wrapping day everything is ready and the project is a pure assembly task.
Make-ahead: Zongzi are an ideal make-ahead food; they keep refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for 3 months, and reheating by steaming takes only 20 minutes.
Leftover move: Slice leftover zongzi into rounds and pan-fry cut-side down until a golden crust forms; the contrast between crispy exterior and chewy interior makes them an entirely different and excellent snack.
Cleanup rhythm: Lay out a dedicated wrapping station before you begin with a bowl of water for keeping leaves damp, a tray for finished parcels, and twine pre-cut into segments; this prevents the mess from spreading across the kitchen.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

glutinous rice

structural base

Purpose: Only glutinous (sweet) rice has the right starch composition to become sticky and cohesive enough to hold the parcel together after cooking.

Handling: Soak in cold water for 4 to 8 hours, then drain thoroughly before seasoning.

Adaptation: No functional substitute; regular rice will not produce the correct texture.

dried bamboo leaves

wrapper and flavor

Purpose: The leaves impart a subtle grassy, woodsy aroma to the rice during the long cooking process that is an irreplaceable part of the zongzi character.

Handling: Soak in warm water for at least 1 hour to soften and become pliable; wipe clean and trim any rough edges.

Adaptation: Dried lotus leaves can be used for a different but equally traditional aroma.

pork belly

filling protein

Purpose: Fatty pork belly braised in soy sauce, five spice, and rice wine is the defining Cantonese zongzi filling; the fat renders into the rice during the long cook and bastes it from within.

Handling: Marinate in soy sauce, five spice, sugar, and Shaoxing wine for at least 2 hours before wrapping.

Adaptation: Chicken thigh pieces can substitute for a leaner filling; the fat content drops but the flavor is still excellent.

salted egg yolk

rich center

Purpose: The salted, cured yolk adds a burst of intensely savory, creamy richness at the center of each parcel that contrasts with the chewy, seasoned rice.

Handling: Use whole prepackaged salted yolks or split a cured salted duck egg and use the yolk half.

Adaptation: Omit if unavailable; the zongzi is still excellent without it.

Shaoxing rice wine

marinade

Purpose: Shaoxing wine gives the pork marinade a complex, slightly nutty fermented character that is core to the savory Cantonese flavor profile.

Handling: Add to the marinade at least 2 hours before wrapping so the pork fully absorbs the flavor.

Adaptation: Dry sherry is a practical substitute; mirin adds sweetness and is only a partial equivalent.

Technique notes

Tie the finished parcels with natural cotton twine in a figure-eight pattern; the twine must be snug enough that the parcel does not loosen during the 2 to 3 hours of boiling.
Keep the parcels fully submerged during boiling by weighing them down with a plate; floating parcels cook unevenly with the exposed end staying undercooked.
Let the zongzi rest for at least 20 minutes after cooking before unwrapping; they are fragile when hot and the rice needs to set slightly so it holds together cleanly when the leaf is peeled back.

Ingredient swaps

Gluten-free direction: Use tamari in the pork marinade and verify your five-spice blend is gluten-free; the bamboo leaf, glutinous rice, and pork are all naturally gluten-free.
Lower-effort direction: Make smaller parcels using half the rice quantity per dumpling; they cook faster (around 1.5 hours versus 2.5) and are easier to wrap for beginners.
Vegetarian direction: Fill with a mixture of marinated dried shiitake mushrooms, seasoned firm tofu, chestnuts, and mung beans; season the rice more aggressively with soy sauce and five spice to compensate for the missing meat juices.

Serve alongside

hot sweet soy dipping sauce
pickled mustard greens
simple ginger-scallion soup
hot jasmine tea
lychee juice

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

Refrigerate cooked zongzi (still in their leaves) for up to 5 days; the leaves help retain moisture and flavor.
Freeze for up to 3 months; reheat from frozen by steaming for 25 to 30 minutes or by simmering in water for 20 minutes.

Equipment

large pot deep enough to fully submerge parcels
natural cotton kitchen twine for tying
tongs for handling hot parcels

Make this household-aware

Listahan Pro checks this recipe against your household's allergens, finds pantry-aware swaps, builds the shopping list, and helps you plan the week around it.

Get the app