More on Zongzi

After yesterday's slapdash, slipshod, and sloppy (ha!) post on zongzi, I wouldn't at all be surprised if you readers were still confused as to what exactly a zongzi is.  So, because I love all of you so much, here's a little more on zongzi.

Zongzi, clothed in bamboo leaves:

Zongzi, naked.  They are mostly composed of sticky rice:

Zongzi, slain (I swear this isn't a metaphor for how I treat my women hahahahahahahah):

See the peanuts and the chunk of pork?  There's also a salted egg yolk hidden in there.

Zongzi are traditionally consumed on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival...aka 端午節.  The festival originates from the attempted rescue of an ancient Chinese poet named Quan Yu.  Poet Yu drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month which explains why the festival is celebrated on that day.  In 2010, the festival will be celebrated on June 16th.  To tie it all together rice, the main ingredient in zongzi, is traditionally thrown into the river in which Quan Yu died to prevent the fish from nibbling on his body.  Then again, Chinese mythology and history is filled with all sorts of symbolism so who knows what REALLY happened.

In truth, I wish I had done a better job documenting yesterday's zongzi because it was far superior to today's specimen in that the rice had better texture and the fillings were more ample.  Oh well, maybe I'll just have to get a third and dissect it in a future post.  :)