First, cut off the petiole of the leaves and clean the front and back of the leaves with clear water. Add some water to the pot, turn off the fire after the fire boils, and then put the zongzi leaves in boiling water for about 3 minutes.

If there are many zongzi leaves, you can turn them properly with chopsticks when ironing, and try to soak every zongzi leaf thoroughly. Don't take out the scalded zongzi leaves right away, first see if they are soft, and you must soak them until they are soft.

Put the leaves in cold water first, wash them one by one, then soak them in clear water and take them away with the bag to prevent them from drying out in the process of making bags. This treatment is the most commonly used, which is suitable for both dry leaves and fresh leaves, and the treated leaves are better wrapped. In addition, when cooking zongzi leaves, the zongzi rope is put into the water at the same time, which makes the zongzi rope more flexible and difficult to break when knotting.

Types of zongzi leaves

1, Ruoye: Ruoye belongs to Gramineae, and the dumplings made are green and full, with pleasant fragrance.

2, reed leaves: Gramineae reed plants, the leaves are narrower than the leaves, common in the north and south, and the jiaozi made is usually conical.

3. Bamboo shell of Phyllostachys pubescens: The bamboo shell in jiaozi comes from many kinds of bamboos, and Phyllostachys pubescens is probably the most common one. It needs to be cleaned repeatedly to remove burrs before use. It is widely used in Sichuan, Zhejiang and Hunan, and it has a regular tetrahedron shape.

4. Hiragi leaves: Hiragi leaves of Araliaceae are widely used in the lives of people in southern Guangdong and Guangxi, and they are also big and thick leaves. The famous Zhaoqing steamed dumplings are made of it. Moreover, the word "Hiragi" and the word "Zongzi" are similar in pronunciation, except tetrahedron and cylinder.

5. Reed with leaves: This kind of plant called reed with leaves is born for making zongzi. This tall grass of Gramineae is very common in southern China. The ancients knew that this kind of straw-wrapped zongzi was made of superior materials and convenient to obtain, so it was named Zongye.