making zongzi with alkaline water
materials: glutinous rice, alkaline water, and crude oil.
Production steps:
1. Wash the glutinous rice, drain off the water, put it in a container, pour one or two pieces of alkaline water and mix well (one kilogram of alkali is converted into alkaline water with one kilogram of water), and after the alkaline water is absorbed by the rice grains, pour in crude oil and mix well (the alkaline water must be put first, and then the oil must be released). Otherwise, alkaline water will not be easily absorbed by rice grains, and rice dumplings will not be glutinous when eaten.
2. Wash bamboo slips with clear water and soak them in clear water. Take two bamboo rafts, fold them into a pointed fighting shape, add two pieces of glutinous rice, and then take two bamboo rafts and insert them into the left and right sides of the pointed fighting-shaped zongzi. Fold the bamboo rafts on both sides inward first, then fold the bamboo rafts on the front and back inward, and wrap them into a long shape with equal corners and a slight bulge in the middle
3. When wrapping, loosen them and don't tie them too tightly. After wrapping, the rice dumplings with alkaline water will be shaken, and the rice grains inside will be the standard. If the bandage is too tight, the rice grains will not rise through when cooking, and it will be raw but not soft and waxy.
4. Take a clean pot and pour water into it. First, bring it to a boil with high fire. Put the zongzi into a sub-pot (it is better to immerse the zongzi in alkaline water). Cook it on high fire for three hours, and then simmer it for three or four hours with low fire.
How to make zongzi with alkaline water
First, find a clearing and clean the ground, then put the prepared rice stalks on the clearing and burn them to ashes with a torch. This is also known as plant ash. Wait until it's cold in plant ash, then put them in a laundry list, and then start making soda water. Every household in the countryside has an earthen stove, and the earthen stove generally has two pots. Put a pot of water in the big pot, make a fire and boil the water, then put two bamboo poles on it, and then put a laundry list on the bamboo poles. When the water boils, put the water in the pot into the laundry list with a ladle, and then the water will be filtered.
Do this over and over again, until the plant ash in the laundry list has become the first big lump, and it is difficult to filter it, so it is not necessary to continue filtering. At this time, the fire will be turned off. When the water is cold, it will be filled out and let it stand for one night. The clean water on it can be used to cook zongzi the next day, and this is the process of making alkaline water in rural areas!
the nutritional value of alkaline rice dumplings
glutinous rice, the main ingredient of rice dumplings, is rich in B vitamins, which can warm the spleen and stomach, tonify the middle energizer and replenish qi. Glutinous rice has astringent effect, and also has good therapeutic effect on frequent urination and spontaneous sweating. Pure glutinous rice dumplings are not so high in calories and are easier to digest than dumplings with stuffing.
If rice dumplings are made of yellow rice, their nutritional value is even higher than glutinous rice dumplings. The iron content of yellow rice is three times that of glutinous rice, and the magnesium content, potassium content, vitamin B1 content and dietary fiber content are all higher than those of glutinous rice.
Why do you put alkali in zongzi
Putting edible alkali can increase the viscosity and make it sticky to eat. Alkali is also used to shorten the cooking time of zongzi and make glutinous rice softer and more golden in color.
However, the glutinous rice can be soaked for a while, and a longer soaking time can also play the above role. Therefore, it is not necessary to do this if it is not to make alkaline rice dumplings, but to shorten the time. Of course, because glutinous rice dumplings are sour, adding alkaline ingredients can keep the taste of dumplings fresher.