May 28, 2009

Duang Wu Chieh (Dragon Boat Festival)

Fifth Day of the Fifth Month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar calls for a special and extra post from me today. Actually I can eat zhongzi every day and never get tired of the glutinous rice and its compact fillings of red beans and peanuts. the fragrance of the Chinese bamboo leaves enhance the taste of the dumplings. Its aroma when being steamed can evoke even the weakest of spirits to stir and make a bee line for a rice dumpling.

I will share with you a few photos of Zhongzi in Miri and Penang. Enjoy the photos as I had enjoyed taking them. I did eat a few undisclosed number in memory of Chu Yuan ( so many are like him...disappointed with various political matters....his legend lives on and perhaps those in power should remember too that philosophers are human and the populace have their ideals too)

This is a street hawker in Penang selling his zhongzi and hanging them from the top of his little mobile stall. According to the hawker his dumplings would keep the shape and they would be aired well. In this way the freshness of the dumplings would stay.




At home when we Foochows have completely cooked our zhongzi we would always hang them like this too.

True enough when I checked out the seller who hangs his zhongzi in front of his keysmithing shop I discover that he is a Foochow business man who said the same thing. He has a special zhongzi that I like - the ones without any filling selling at 80 sen each.




And here's cheers to all who love zhongzi and who share a great sense of justice.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is indeed very nice write up ..I like bak chang too. The significance of the festival is not lost amongst many. Be rest assured.

justin said...

Bak Chang is lovely and tasty when well made. In fact at one time I had bak chang almost every day for breakfast!! But the standard has gone down a little in Miri. The prices at some stalls are too high I must say.

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