Dried zongzi leaves are made from fresh zongzi leaves after dehydration and drying. Because of the low water content, the shelf life is long. However, the texture of dried zongzi leaves is very dry and brittle, so they usually need to be boiled and soaked before use, and then used to wrap zongzi after the leaves absorb water and become soft.

However, fresh zongzi leaves contain a lot of water, and the color is very green, so it is not necessary to soak in water before use, and the wrapped zongzi is also very beautiful, but its shelf life is short, so it needs to be bought and used immediately.

2 Do you need to cook fresh zongzi leaves? It is recommended to cook them a little.

Fresh zongzi leaves themselves contain more water, and the texture is more flexible, so they usually don't need to be cooked before being used to wrap zongzi, so that the color of the wrapped zongzi will be greener.

However, because the surface of fresh zongzi leaves will be covered with more dust, fluff and bacteria after picking, if it is not clean, you can also cook it, which can play the role of sterilization and disinfection, and then scrub the cooked zongzi leaves, but it is not recommended to cook it for too long.

Does the fresh zongzi leaves change color after cooking? If it takes too long, it will change color.

The pigment contained in fresh rice dumpling leaves belongs to natural water-soluble pigment, which will dissolve in water after boiling, so if it is boiled for too long, it will change color, which is normal.

On the contrary, those leaves that do not change color after cooking may be due to the addition of artificial pigments, which are harmful to human health. Therefore, you should also be careful when buying leaves, and avoid choosing those leaves that are very green and the whole piece is the same color.

4 How to keep fresh zongzi leaves for a long time and keep them in cold storage.

If the fresh zongzi leaves can't be used up for a while, it is suggested that they can be wrapped in fresh-keeping bags and stored in the cold room of the refrigerator, which will last longer.

If the remaining amount is too much to be used up in a short time, it can also be sealed with a fresh-keeping bag, and the air inside can be squeezed out as much as possible, and then the fresh zongzi leaves can be stored in the freezer of the refrigerator, so that it can be stored for about 1 year, and it can be thawed before use.