Zongzi (English name: glutinous rice dumpling) is a festival food of the Dragon Boat Festival, which was called "Jiaoshu" in ancient times. Legend has it that it was invented for the sacrifice of Qu Yuan who threw himself into the river, and it is a traditional food with the deepest cultural accumulation in the history of China. Send zongzi to each other to commemorate this day.

[ Edit this paragraph] Historical records

Historical records about zongzi were first seen in Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Han Dynasty. The word "Zongzi" is written as "Yi", and "Shuo Wen Xin Fu"? "Mi Bu" means "Sui, reed leaves are wrapped in rice. From the rice, it is squeaky. " "Shuo Wen? Yan: "Hey, it's enough." When a bird flies, it converges its legs and claws. "set rhyme? Send rhyme: "hey, the corner is also." Or make dumplings. "

zongzi, also known as "jiaoshu", was first recorded in the local customs of the western Jin dynasty and Zhou dynasty: "it is the fifth day in midsummer, and Fang bo is extremely harmonious. Enjoy corn and tortoise scales in Shunde. Note: the end is also the beginning, which means the fifth day of May. Four zhong is Fang Bo. The custom is heavy on May 5th, the same as the summer solstice. ● (the same as "duck"), Chunfu chicks are all allowed to eat during the summer solstice. First of all, the first two festivals are one day, and then sticky rice is wrapped in leaves, mixed with millet, cooked with pure gray juice, and the second festival is still good. ..... wrapped in sticky rice, a' glutinous rice' and a' horn millet', covering the image that Yin and Yang are still intertwined and wrapped up. "

In Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica in the Ming Dynasty, it was clearly stated that millet was wrapped in leaves of Zizania latifolia and cooked into food in the shape of sharp corners or palm leaves, so it was called "angular millet" or "zongzi".

after the Ming and Qing dynasties, zongzi were mostly wrapped in glutinous rice. At this time, they were called zongzi instead of horny millet.

[ Edit this paragraph] Folklore

Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, people began to have zongzi, which originated from the saying that people paid homage to Qu Yuan.

Wu Jun (467-521) of the Southern Liang Dynasty wrote in "Harmony in the Continuation of Qi": "Qu Yuan died in Miluo on May 5th in the lunar calendar, and the Chu people mourned it. Every day, rice is stored in bamboo tubes and sacrificed in water. During the Han Dynasty's military construction, Changsha returned to Europe. During the day, I suddenly saw a man who called himself Dr. San Lv and said,' You should see the sacrifice. It's very kind. But it is often left behind and stolen by bitter dragons. If there is any benefit today, you can put neem leaves on it and tie it with colorful silk. These two things are also feared by the dragon. " Back to his words. The world makes zongzi with five-colored silk and neem leaves, all of which are the legacy of Miluo.

Another saying is that people are afraid that Qu Yuan's body will be eaten by fish in the river, so they wrap zongzi and throw them into the river to feed the fish.

The idea that Zongzi is associated with Qu Yuan is widely spread because of its romanticism. Zongzi often appears in literati's poems.

Yuan Zhen wrote in his ten poems about the summer: "Colorful wisps of blue clouds and fragrant white jade balls."

In the Song Dynasty, Yang Wuxia wrote in the Dragon Boat Festival in Qi Tianle: "Spare a few Huang Meiyu. It's noon again. The corn is covered with gold, the calamus is full of jade, and the scenery is still beautiful. Shirt cut Ai Hu. More hairpin curl Zhu Fu, arm wrapped in red ray. Float powder and fragrant cotton, and call the wind to fan the small window at noon. "

[ Edit this paragraph] Symbol of Zongye

We all know that the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the national hero Qu Yuan. In order not to make fish and shrimp hurt his body, people put rice in bamboo tubes into the river one after another. In the future, in order to show respect and memory for Qu Yuan, people put rice in bamboo tubes and put it into a memorial ceremony on this day, which is the origin of the earliest zongzi in China.

why did you wrap zongzi with mugwort leaves, reed leaves and lotus leaves later?

There is such a record in the Book of Beginners: During the Jianwu period of the Han Dynasty, Changsha people dreamed of a man who claimed to be Dr. San Lv (the official name of Qu Yuan) at night and said to him, "Everything you sacrificed was stolen by the dragon in the river. You can wrap it with wormwood leaves and tie up the five-color silk thread in the future. The dragon is most afraid of these two things." As a result, people made "horn millet" with "leaves wrapped in millet". From generation to generation, it has gradually developed into the Dragon Boat Festival food in China.

[ Edit this paragraph] Evolution of Zongzi

In the Spring and Autumn Period, millet was wrapped in leaves of Zizania latifolia (Zizania latifolia) into a horn shape, which was called "horn millet"; Rice packed in bamboo tubes is sealed and roasted, which is called "tube zongzi".

at the end of the eastern Han dynasty: plant ash soaked the millet, and because the water contained alkali, the millet was wrapped in leaves to form a quadrangle, and cooked to make Cheng Guangdong alkaline water dumplings.

Jin Dynasty: Zongzi was officially designated as Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, in addition to rice, the raw materials for making zongzi are also added with Alpinia oxyphylla, and the cooked zongzi is called "Yizhi Zongzi".

southern and northern dynasties: miscellaneous zongzi appeared. The variety has increased, and the rice is mixed with animal meat, chestnut, red dates and red beans, and the wrapped zongzi is also used as a gift for communication.

in the Tang dynasty, the rice used for zongzi was "white as jade", and the shape of zongzi appeared cone and diamond. There is a record of "Datang Zongzi" in Japanese literature.

in the song dynasty, there were "Ai Xiang Zongzi" wrapped in mugwort leaves and "candied Zongzi". See Su Dongpo's poem "See Myrica rubra in Zongzi". At this time, there were also advertisements made of zongzi piled into pavilions and wooden carts and horses, indicating that eating zongzi was very fashionable in the Song Dynasty.

in yuan dynasty, the wrapping material of zongzi has changed from wild leaves to wild leaves, breaking through the seasonal limitation of wild leaves.

in Ming dynasty, zongzi wrapped in reed leaves appeared, with bean paste, pork, pine nuts, dates and walnuts as additives, and the varieties were more colorful.

Qing dynasty: "ham zongzi" appeared.

nowadays, there are thousands of kinds of zongzi, which are colorful. Nowadays, glutinous rice is usually wrapped in glutinous rice shells, but the connotation and color depend on the local specialties and customs. The famous ones are longan, meat, crystal, lotus seed, candied fruit, chestnut, spicy, pickled cabbage, ham and salted egg.

[ Edit this paragraph] Anecdote about Zongzi

The oldest Zongzi: the honey-cooled Zongzi in Xi 'an, is contained in Tang Wei Juyuan's Recipe. It is characterized by using only glutinous rice without stuffing, cooking it, cooling it in the air, pulling it into thin slices with silk thread when eating it, and pouring it with honey and yellow osmanthus sauce-white sugar pickled osmanthus sauce.

the largest zongzi (normally eaten): Darou Zongzi is produced in Nanning, Guangxi, each weighing about two Jin. It is filled with fat pork and mung beans, and it is fragrant, soft and waxy, sweet and moist, but not greasy.

Biggest Zongzi (Guinness Book of Records):

During the Nanning International Folk Song Art Festival and Guangxi (Nanning) Tourism and Food Festival in 2111, a giant Zongzi cooked by the chef of Nanning Mingyuan Xindu Hotel was 3 meters long, 2.1 meters wide and 1.2 meters high. After steaming, it reached more than 2,111 kilograms, breaking the record of Zhejiang Zongzi King and becoming the new Guinness World Zongzi. The dumpling king used more than 21 vats, 551 kilograms of glutinous rice, 151 kilograms of pork belly, 511 kilograms of mung beans, 151 kilograms of chestnut, 11 kilograms of dried shrimps, 11 kilograms of mushrooms and 7. 5 kilograms of dumpling sauce, and it took 6 days to cook. In addition, in order to cook this giant dumpling, Nanning Chemical Industry Group Machinery Factory specially made a giant pot with a length of 3 .5 meters and a width of 2.6 meters. * * * More than 3111 people tasted this zongzi.

The smallest zongzi: It is found in Shanghai Chenghuang Temple, Green Wave Gallery and Lake Pavilion. About an inch long, shaped like a pillow, with ham as stuffing, small and fresh; The lake pavilion thinks that tea and food are wonderful.

[ Edit this paragraph] Zongzi genre

Zongzi in the north is mostly simple white rice, or mixed with red beans, dates and sugar.

Zongzi in the south of the Yangtze River is the most famous, and its practices are also complicated, especially the stuffing, which is changeable. A major difference from the northern rice dumplings is that the glutinous rice raw materials of Jiangnan rice dumplings are mostly soaked in soy sauce in advance and steamed with meat stuffing, which is fragrant.

Zongzi in China is the most famous one produced in Jiaxing, south of the Yangtze River. Jiaxing Zongzi enjoyed a high reputation as early as the Qing Dynasty. The food book records the types and practices of Jiaxing Zongzi: "Bamboo leaves Zongzi": "Take bamboo leaves and wrap them in white glutinous rice Zongzi and cook them, and their tips are like raw water chestnuts."

"Ai Xiang Zongzi": "Wash glutinous rice, add dates, chestnuts and mung beans, wrap it in mugwort leaves and cook it in a pot."

"Mint-flavored zongzi": "Mint-soaked rice is steamed until soft, mixed with foreign sugar, wrapped in bamboo, and then boiled."

"red bean paste dumplings": "red bean paste, sugar and fat are boiled in small dumplings."

"Lotus seed dumplings": "Peel the heart, mix with foreign sugar, and wrap the dumplings."

"Songren Dumpling": "Dumpling without leather bag"

"Ham Dumpling": "Dumpling with ham, if the ham is Jinhua, the fine fertilizer should be even. Also, diced meat can be wrapped in dumplings. "

among Jiaxing zongzi, Wufangzhai is the most famous. Fresh meat dumplings in Wufangzhai, Jiaxing, are supplied in four seasons. They are divided into four pieces with chopsticks. Each piece looks like meat, fragrant and moist, crisp and tender, and fat and waxy but not greasy. The oldest rice dumplings in Huzhou are good at washing sand and sweet rice dumplings. It is not uncommon to fill them with red bean paste and diced pork. What is rare is that red bean paste is washed sand-boiled and shelled, and then fried with sugar, cooked lard and rose juice until it is dark and bright. This kind of red bean paste is delicious, moist, fine and smooth.

In the south of the Yangtze River, the Dragon Boat Festival is quite grand. This festival with strong folk flavor is also the time when all kinds of rice dumplings are on the market. I still remember that when I was young, on this festival, my grandmother would hang a string of miniature zongzi around my neck. The green zongzi leaves and faint fragrance were happy topics for my friends to get together. Gradually, I realized that zongzi is delicious for no reason. It turns out that zongzi in the south of the Yangtze River can be divided into Guangdong style and Soviet style, just like the classification of moon cakes. Cantonese-style dumplings are coconut dumplings, lotus dumplings, roasted duck dumplings, lard bean paste dumplings, barbecued egg yolk dumplings and so on. Su style, there are white rice dumplings, red bean dumplings, fresh meat dumplings, ham dumplings and so on. Later, I went to Jiaxing, which is famous for producing zongzi, only to know that the meat zongzi here is really extraordinary, its fragrant and delicious, and there is no comparable zongzi so far.

I visited Shaoguan, Guangdong province more than 21 years ago, and I was full of eyes when I saw the huge zongzi produced. That big square zongzi, as long as you eat one, will make you feel full, but in terms of taste, it is still normal.

The older generation said that the rice dumplings wrapped in rice dumplings are very exquisite, which is a kind of specially planted green reed leaves or bamboo dumplings with special width and length. If you cook them wrapped in rice dumplings, you can make them fragrant and difficult to spoil.

as a traditional food, zongzi produced in various places today can be supplied all the year round, that is, Jiaxing meat zongzi as mentioned above. Today, all Chinese and foreign tourists visiting Jiaxing know how to taste the new products and buy several strings to bring home. In Hong Kong, some shops that specialize in selling foods from the south of the Yangtze River also supply homemade bacon ham dumplings or fresh meat dumplings all year round. However, in terms of taste, they naturally cannot compare with local producers in Jiaxing.

The well-known zongzi are:

1 Wufangzhai Zongzi (a famous brand in China, a well-known trademark in China, a time-honored brand in China)

2 Daoxiang Village Zongzi (founded in 1895 (the 21th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty), a time-honored brand in China)

3 Holiland Zongzi (a well-known brand, Large pastry chain enterprise)

4 Sanquan Zongzi (China famous brand)

5 Missing Zongzi (China famous brand)

6 Likoufu Zongzi (famous brand, a subsidiary of Guangzhou Restaurant Enterprise Group)

7 Laobian Zongzi (founded in 1829, a Chinese time-honored catering enterprise)

8 Miqi Zongzi (Xi 'an in 1994, Famous brand)

9 Jinyuan Zongzi (1996 Tianjin, a famous brand)

11 Kutokuhayashi Zongzi (founded in 1922 in Shanghai, a time-honored enterprise in China)

11 Dayuan Zongzi (a well-known enterprise integrating catering and food processing). Is the first authentic high-grade Cantonese restaurant opened in Beijing after the reform and opening up)

12 Xianpinwu Zongzi (a well-known brand in Qingdao)

[ Edit this paragraph] Jiuzizong

Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, after eating Jiuzizong in his palace during the Dragon Boat Festival, Long Yan was overjoyed and full of praise, and happily wrote a poem: "The four seasons are wonderful, and Jiuzizong strives for new things."

Jiuzi Zongzi: It is a kind of Zongzi, that is, nine Zongzi are connected in a string, big and small, with the big one on the top and the small one on the bottom, with different shapes and very beautiful appearance. And nine colors of silk thread are tied together to form colorful. Jiuzi Zongzi is mostly used as a gift for relatives and friends, such as a gift from a mother to her married daughter and a gift from her mother-in-law to her wedding. Because "Zongzi" is homophonic "neutron", there is a folk custom that eating "Zongzi" can give birth to a son, so it is called "Jiuzi Zongzi".

Wu Manyun, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, also wrote a poem praising Jiuzi Zongzi: "Even the barrel of rice is wrapped in spring, and Jiuzi's colorful strands are tied heavily, and the green leaves are all white, laughing that the cook's lotus root is loose again."

[ Edit this paragraph] The famous zongzi in the north and south

Zongzi not only has many shapes and different varieties, but also has two kinds, sweet and salty, due to different flavors in different parts of China. Sweetness includes white water dumpling, red bean dumpling, broad bean dumpling, jujube dumpling, rose dumpling, melon seed dumpling, bean paste lard dumpling, jujube paste lard dumpling and so on. Salty taste: pork dumplings, ham dumplings, sausage dumplings, shrimp dumplings, diced pork dumplings, etc., but pork dumplings are more. There are also assorted dumplings, bean paste dumplings and mushrooms with southern flavor; There is also a "double dumpling" with a sweet end and a salty end. These zongzi are all accompanied by different tastes, which makes the zongzi family colorful.

Guangdong Zongzi: Guangdong Zongzi is big and unique in appearance. Besides fresh meat Zongzi and red bean paste Zongzi, there are also assorted Zongzi with diced chicken, diced duck, barbecued pork, egg yolk, mushrooms and mung bean paste as fillings. Japanese zongzi

Minnan zongzi: The roasted meat zongzi and alkaline zongzi in Xiamen and Quanzhou are well-known at home and abroad. The rice of the roasted meat dumplings must be the best, the pork is the pork belly, which is marinated fragrant and rotten first, plus mushrooms, shrimp, lotus seeds, braised pork soup, white sugar, etc. When eating, it is dipped in garlic paste, mustard, red hot sauce, radish acid and other seasonings, which is sweet and smooth and oily but not greasy. Zongzi in southern Fujian is divided into alkali zongzi, meat zongzi and bean zongzi. Alkaline zongzi is steamed by adding alkali liquor to glutinous rice, which is sticky, soft and slippery, and it is especially delicious when added with honey or syrup after ice. The materials of meat dumplings are braised pork, mushrooms, egg yolk, dried shrimps, dried bamboo shoots, etc. Xiamen's meat dumplings are the most famous. Bean zongzi is popular in Quanzhou, where September beans are mixed with a little salt and wrapped with glutinous rice. After steaming, the beans smell fragrant, and some people dip them in white sugar to eat.

Ningbo Zongzi: Zhejiang Ningbo Zongzi is quadrangular, and there are varieties such as alkaline water Zongzi, red bean Zongzi and red date Zongzi. Its representative variety, Suanshui Zongzi, is made by adding an appropriate amount of Suanshui to glutinous rice and wrapping it with old yellow leaves. After cooking, the glutinous rice turns pale yellow and can be dipped in white sugar, which is fragrant and delicious.

Jiaxing Zongzi: Jiaxing Zongzi is rectangular, with fresh meat, bean paste, eight treasures and other varieties. For example, fresh meat dumplings are often sandwiched with a piece of fat meat in lean meat. After the dumplings are cooked, the oil of the fat meat seeps into the rice, and the mouth is fat but not greasy.

Beijing Zongzi: Beijing Zongzi is a representative variety of northern Zongzi, with a small head and an oblique quadrangle. In rural areas in the northern suburbs, people are used to eating Dahuang rice dumplings, which are sticky and fragrant, and are mostly filled with red dates and red bean paste.

Guangxi Zongzi: A large pillow Zongzi with a shape similar to a pillow is popular in central Guangxi. A big pillow dumpling in central Guangxi uses half a catty to a catty of rice; In Guilin, a kilo of rice can be used as a small pillow dumpling for six or seven zongzi. To the north of Guilin, I like to wrap dumplings with the shape of a dog's head. In the process of making zongzi, the ingredients have their own characteristics. For example, Guilin people like to add some alkaline powder to the dumplings, so that the cooked dumplings produce alkaline fragrance; However, people in Quanzhou like to soak glutinous rice in straw gray water. The zongzi made by this method has both moderate alkaline flavor and attractive appetite.

other famous zongzi are spicy zongzi from Sichuan and Hubei, pickled zongzi from Guizhou and salted egg zongzi from northern Jiangsu.

There are many kinds of zongzi in Shanghai

Cantonese-style zongzi, represented by Xinghualou and Xinya, tastes soft and strong, and its shape is flat at the bottom, square and pentagonal, with one corner pointing.