Batu Lintang Teachers Training InstituteMicrosoft Powerpoint Coursework

Name : Ho Mee KietMatrix No: 200807022Course: PPISMP SN / BI / BC (July Intake) Name of lecturer: Encik Rahmat ChooDue date: 6/10/2008

Dumpling Festival

Duan Wu Jie (Rice Dumpling Festival) A widely celebrated festival amongst the Chinese, to pay respect to the patriotic poet, Qu Yuan (pronounced as Chue Yuan). Qu Yuan was an important minister back in Chu Kingdom in ancient China. He had been known for his loyalty for the emperor of Chu, and loved his country greatly.

However, His Majesty had not taken Qu Yuan's advice seriously, and he eventually got himself trapped and captured in a foreign land by his enemies, which then lead to his own death. Sad and angry at the corrupted, dying Kingdom, Qu Yuan tied himself to a big rock and threw himself into the River of Puo Luo.

The people then made rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and threw them into the river. They believed this would stop the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body. Some would even row down stream in a boat, beating drums and shouting out loud in the hope to scare the fish away (it was believed that it is how the Dragon Boat event is related to the festival. )

Since then, the 5th day of the 5th month in the Chinese calendar has been set as Duan Wu Festival to remember the incident. Although there were versions of legends and stories that indicate Duan Wu has existed way before Qu Yuan's death, the tradition still carries on.

Qu Yuan

Dragon boat

Rice DumplingsThe rice dumplings (ZongZi) are glutinous rice (or sticky rice in some countries like Thailand and Hong Kong) wrapped in bamboo leaves, or other large leaves (lotus is one of the more commonly used leaves).

You can find all sorts of different fillings in the rice: pork, roast pork, chestnut, egg, salted egg, mushroom, red bean, or just simply without filling. They could be just white rice dumpling (not pre-fried), or brown (pre-fried with soya sauce).

Nowadays, you can buy Zongzi almost everyday of the year, in restaurants or hawker stores in most oriental countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, and other Asian countries.

Black and White Glutinous Rice Dumplings Recipe by Amy Beh

Ingredients300g black glutinous rice650g glutinous rice100g split green peasDried bamboo leaves, boiled, washed and soaked

Hemp stringsPandan leaves, washed and cut into 3cm long.200g candied winter melon, diced.100g dried Chinese mushrooms, diced.75g lotus seeds, soaked for 1 hour3 tablespoon oil

Filling: 1 tablespoon minced shallots 1 tablespoon minced garlic 40g dried prawns, pounded 1.5cm cekur roots, cleaned, smashed and pounded 1 tablespoon preserved bean paste (tau cheong) 2 tablespoon coriander powder, mixed with a little water into a paste.

Seasoning: 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 2 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 2 tablespoon pepper

MethodTo prepare rice, soak both types of rice and split green peas separately overnight with an addition of 1 tablespoon salt to each. Drain and add 2 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon sugar to each type of glutinous rice and set aside. To prepare filling, heat oil in a wok and stir-fry shallots, garlic and dried prawns until golden brown and fragrant. Add coriander powder paste, cekur and bean paste and fry until fragrant. Add mushrooms, winter melon and lotus seeds and mix in seasoning to taste and combine.

To wrap dumpling, take two cleaned bamboo leaves and fold at the centre to form a cone. Line cone with 1 or 2 tablespoon glutinous rice mixture. Add in 1 tablespoon split green peas and 1 tablespoon filling mixture. Cover with glutinous rice mixture again and top up with a pandan leaf. Using fingers, press down the rice to make it compact. Fold bamboo leaves over to form a pyramid shape and tie tightly with a length of hemp string. Bring dumplings to boil for 3 hours or pressure cook for 50 minutes until cooked through. Remove and hang up to dry.

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