Dragon Boat Festival where everyone celebrates with family gatherings, watching the dragon boat races and eating yummy Zongzi.
Can you hear the drums beating? Can you feel the intensity in the air? Can you see the sweat building up on the paddler's brow?
I know I promised everyone one straight month of Italian yummy dishes but this is a day that we need to pay respect to local tradition here in Hong Kong and in Asia and take a quick moment for reflection.
Actually, festivities have been going on all week but today is the actually holiday on the calendar. Come along with me to find out more about this Chinese Holiday...
Why is the Dragon Boat Festival Celebrated?
The Dragon boat festival is also known as Tuen Ng Festival. Yesterday one of my dear foodie friends from Singapore explained that this festival commemorates the death of a popular Chinese national hero, Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Mi Lo River over 2,000 years ago. Qu Yuan was trying to protest against the corrupt rulers. Legend has it that as townspeople attempted to rescue Qu Yuan, they beat drums to scare fish away and threw dumplings into the sea to keep the fish from eating his body. Today they celebrate by making and enjoying the zongzi (glutenous rice dumplings) instead of throwing them into the sea.
Each year many Dragon Boat racers compete to be the fastest in the competition. This is the real excitement. There are many leagues and much hard work, endurance and synchrony to get the 20-22 paddlers moving this boat quickly. Trust me I have tried it a few times and it is a lot of hard work. I found out about some new muscles I did not even know I had.
What is a Zongzi?
After all that hard work, you need some quick, fast and nutritious bites. Zongzi is just the perfect treat to keep your strength up for the Dragon Boat competitions. Zongzi are glutenous rice balls wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves which have many different types of goodies inside.
My dear friend Safie brought me over a few zongzi for our family enjoy today. I just finished steaming the zongzi for about 20 minutes. She brought over two different kinds for me to try. There is one type of zongzi with black bean paste, shrimp and pork.
The other zongzi has peanuts and some other items really I could not even after tasting it identify. (Not even me, and you know how I love re-engineering everything, maybe it was a chestnut?) Both types were quite nice but I really kind of liked the one with the black bean paste. It was both sweet and savory and that was kind of nice. This week, zongzi are being sold at almost every street corner. There are so many types and some even plain that they serve with honey.
We love celebrating the Drago Boat Festival with Zongzi. What is your favorite kind of Zongzi? Do you have a family recipe for Zongzi?
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Have a safe and Happy Dragon Boat Festival Celebration.
muppy says
looks amazing, love all the colours in the boats 🙂
i was surprised in china when i ate one of these and it was sweet! similar ones i've eaten in sydney are always savoury,
Healthy World Cuisine says
Each country and even each region in China makes them very differently and there are so many different kinds. I kind of like the sweet and savory combo. Very yummy!
Karen says
Sounds like an extraordinary day full of excitement and color.
Healthy World Cuisine says
and HEAT! and HUMIDITY! LOL
thecompletecookbook says
The race looks fabulous! Don't think I have eaten Zongzi before - they look so interestin.
🙂 Mandy
Healthy World Cuisine says
They have many races throughout the week and of course they practice for this big event all year around. It is a very common sight to see dragon boaters practicing in the early mornings on weekends or late evenings after work here in HK.
gardenfreshtomatoes says
Excellent post, Bobbi...I never knew there was a Hero associated with the Dragon Boats.
There's a dragon boat festival in the fall up in Providence. Local businesses form teams to race, and the whole thing is a big charity fundraiser (can't remember which cause it supports).
Fun to watch, but no one mentions the history of the original!
Healthy World Cuisine says
I just learned the history about it the event the other day and am happy that I could share it with you.
Martyna @ Wholesome Cook says
Great post and what a great holiday! The Zongzi sound delicious... I like the look of the pork one. By the way we have a similar boat-related tradition here in Australia. On Australia Day we have a Ferrython, a commuter ferry race on the harbour. People gather on the foreshore and watch while picnicing.
Healthy World Cuisine says
There are many other countries that have a very similar type of boating race. It would be fun to hop from county to country and try all the different types of picnic food served at these events. I'm sure in Australia we might see something from the "Barbie". How great!
Anonymous says
Confirmqtion that one can Read your blog in China... But the photos are not visible unless one uses a VPN connection to bypass the government blocks....same same for Facebook.... Pity the mainlanders cant see your nice photos.....
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks for letting me know. I will do my best to try to better describe the steps in the cooking process, since they do not have pictures to help them along the way. I really wish that the people in mainland China could see my food pictures on Healthy World Cuisine, as that really is one of the best parts about reading a food website. However, I am delighted to hear that they can still read the recipes and keep in touch. Take Care, BAM
ChgoJohn says
Look at all of the colorful streamers and flags on the Dragon boats! Even the crews are colorfully attired. They must be something to watch racing down the river. Thank goodness the weather was good. Rain, even a light shower, would have ruined some of the effect.
I'm not at all familiar with Zongzi but that's something I'd like to change. The ones made with shrimp, pork, and black bean paste sound delicious, BAM. I need to keep that name in mind for when I return to my favorite Chinese restaurant. 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Just a slight gentle sprinkle on a few occasions the last couple of days here in HK, but not even an umbrella was needed. However, yesterday was quite windy and as a paddler, I know they had to pull extra hard to fight against the wind. I hope you get the chance to try a zongzi as they are really quite interesting. They are quite dense because of the glutenous rice so really one or part of one is all you really need. I ate some fresh lovely lychee fruit along with mine as it was quite nice for the perfect little dinner.
yummychunklet says
That looks great!
Healthy World Cuisine says
The best part is all I had to do was steam them for 20 minutes and ta da... dinner!
Karista says
What fun! The boats are beautiful, and the zongzi looks delicious!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Great day but soooooo hot this week. At least the last couple of days there has been a slight breeze for all of the participants and the people going to watch the dragon boating events.
cravesadventure says
Yummers - Happy Saturday - Enjoy Your Day!!!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you. There are a lot of people out and about here in HK today. May like a bizillion.
thebigfatnoodle says
My mum makes the best zongzi but she wraps them differently given that She's shanghainese. These look awesome and I wish I was at home to join in the festivities. Enjoy the celebrations!
Healthy World Cuisine says
It is interesting how each area has their own way of preparing these and the ingredients inside depend on the region as well. I asked my friend if she would show me how to make them and she said they were a lot of work. So bravo to your mum!
Choc Chip Uru says
Your meal looks delicious and exoticly oriental and I'm glad you celebrated such a vibrant festival 🙂
Thank you!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Healthy World Cuisine says
We also shared a big plate of lychee fruit... Yummy they were so sweet.
susartandfood says
Dragon boat festival - sounds wonderful. The little bundles look intriguing.
Healthy World Cuisine says
The dragon boat festival is interesting to watch if you can get close enough to it. Sometime the best vantage point for us is to go down to Aberdeen and bargain with the sampan boat ladies for a little cruise in the harbor just near the dragon boaters but not interfering with the race.
ceciliag says
those are little bundles of goodness, gosh western food is just so dull sometimes. We have dragon boat races in NZ too and they are huge. My daughter used to do it every year! Mad child! c
Healthy World Cuisine says
Good for your daughter. It is great exercise and great teamwork and dedication. The local boaters usually blow everyone away here as they are so experienced and driven. Sometimes they get going so fast I am sure they could pull a skier from behind!
sybaritica says
Your photography is really getting to be book quality!
Healthy World Cuisine says
You are so sweet but I just have a point and shoot camera so I know that I really need to upgrade.