Cantonese Style Joong (zongzi)
I never thought I would get to a point where I felt confident enough to share a recipe for Joong. Joong are one of my favorite things to eat. They are bamboo leaves stuffed with sticky rice, Chinese sausage, pork belly, peanuts, and salted egg yolks. Well, at least that’s the version my Pau Pau (grandma) makes for us every year for Dragon Boat Festival. You see, every family makes joong a little different. Sometimes they are sweet with red beans and rock sugar. Sometimes they are filled with mung beans instead of peanuts. When I was little, I had an aversion to peanuts so my Pau Pau made ones peanut-free especially for me.
I’ve made them a few times with Pau Pau’s supervision and it always felt like a struggle. My hands felt clumsy and I could never get the folding down as perfect as her. She humored me and said that mine looked fine, but I knew the truth! Pau Pau has been making these for almost 90 years. She remembers practicing her folding in the kitchen with her family and how she had to repeat the folding over and over again until it was second nature to her.
Traditional Chinese recipes like this always felt intimidating to me. For no particular reason, or maybe it is the weight of generations of ancestors looking down on you, potentially judging. No biggie… That has been what’s holding me back from making Joong on my own all these years. But I’m almost 30, like a real adult, and I decided that I wasn’t going to let this hold me back from enjoying one of my favorite foods!
To my surprise, making Joong wasn’t as scary or labour intensive as I thought it would be. I mean, my folding technique still needs about 50 years of practice, but I was shocked by how similar mine tasted compared to my grandma’s. I wasn’t prepared for that first bite to be so emotional. I realized that I had the ability to keep this tradition going and that was worth every bit of nervousness I had preparing this recipe.
This my very simple guide to making Cantonese-style Joong, it’s not difficult, but does take some planning and prep. So read carefully. I believe in you, you got this!
Everything You Need to Make Joong
Making Joong is going to require a special trip to your local Asian Market because you will need to locate dried bamboo leaves, glutinous sticky rice, Chinese sausage, and salted egg yolks (if you’re not making them yourself). Everything else you could find at a conventional grocery store but you might as well buy everything else at the Asian Market too!
Dried Bamboo Leaves
Glutinous Sticky Rice
Chinese Sausage
Raw Peanuts
Pork Belly
Salted Egg Yolk
Kitchen Twine
If you’re going to make your own salted egg yolks, all you need to do is make a layer of course salt in a deep, flat dish. Carefully arrange your egg yolks in the salt and then cover them fully with more salt. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 5 days (or up to 2 weeks). When you’re ready to assemble the joong, just rinse them off under some cold water.
start Prep the Day before
The day before you’re planning on making joong you will need to start prepping your ingredients. Many of them need to be soaked in cold water for at least 12 hours.
Place the bamboo leaves in a large stock pot and fill with water. Gently bend the leaves so they are fully submerged in the water. They have a tendency to float, so I like to place a bowl over the leaves to help press them down. Cover the pot with a lid and set aside to soak for at least 12 hours. You can even let them soak for up to 3 days (change out the water every 12 hours) for softer leaves. The next day, drain the water and wipe dry with a paper towel.
Place the sticky rice in a large bowl and submerge with cold water, cover, and soak for at least 12 hours. The next day, drain all the excess water and set aside. Do the same for the peanuts.
You will also want to over season the pork belly. It’s important to make the pork belly almost too salty because that extra salt is going to help season all the rice inside of the joong. Slice the pork belly in strips and season with salt and chinese five spice. Transfer the raw pork belly to an airtight container and chill in the fridge overnight. The next day, sear the pork belly on both sides until browned and allow it too cool before assembling the joong.
How to fold Joong
It is very difficult to explain how to wrap joong with just words. These photos help but it is best understood through video (if you’re not near a grandma making joong). I have this reel on my IG showing my very beginner attempt at wrapping, but this Youtube video was very helpful!
I start off with 2 leaves, overlap them slightly, and fold them in half at a diagonal, and twist to create a little “cup”. Add a scoop of rice and then layer on peanuts, pork belly, Chinese sausage, and half or a whole salted egg yolk (I opted for half yolks). Cover everything with another scoop of sticky rice. Wrap a third leaf around the “base” of the joong. While holding firmly, fold the exposed edge of the joong over and bend the top of the leaves down. Take a piece of twine and tightly wrap it around the joong a few times and then tie the ends together. And that’s it! Wheewww… just go watch the video 😅
how to cook joong
Cooking joong is a long and slow process. You essentially need to boil them for about 7 hours. Since the joong are so densely packed with rice, it takes time for every grain to cook. The fat in the pork belly and chinese sausage is also going to melt and infuse the rice with their wonderful salty, fatty, porky flavor. The bamboo leaves also impart a lot of flavor into the rice as it boils.
Tightly pack the joong into a large stock pot. Fully submerge them with cold water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once it boils, reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. I end up keeping my heat at a low so it doesn’t boil over. Simmer the joong with the lid on for 5 hours. Keep an eye on it because if the water gets too low you will need to add some more water to the pot. I boil some water in a kettle and add it to the pot when I need to. To be extra sure all the joong are properly cooked through, you can continue to boil to up to 7 hours.
After boiling, drain and let the joong cool for about an hour before opening one. They are best fresh and can keep at room temperature for about a day (that’s what my family does, don’t call the health department!). Afterwards, keep them in the fridge or freeze some for later.
My mom always keeps a bunch of my Pau Pau’s joong in the freezer for me. I normally pick them up at Christmas and attempt to fly home with some in my carry-on. I almost always get stopped at TSA because they look a little suspicious haha
Anyways! Wishing you luck on your joong project! It’s going to be great!
Joong
Makes 12
36 dried bamboo leaves - soak for at least 12 hours
5 cups glutinous sticky rice
1 cup raw peanuts
1 pound pork belly
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice
6 (or 12 for full yolks) salted egg yolks
3 Chinese sausage, sliced into quarters (see photos)
The day before, place the bamboo leaves in a large stock pot and fill with water. Gently bend the leaves so they are fully submerged in the water. They have a tendency to float, so I like to place a bowl over the leaves to help press them down. Cover the pot with a lid and set aside to soak for at least 12 hours. The next day, drain the water and wipe dry with a paper towel.
Place the sticky rice in a large bowl and submerge with cold water, cover, and soak for at least 12 hours. The next day, drain all the excess water and set aside.
Place the peanuts in a medium bowl and submerge with cold water, cover, and soak for 12 to 24 hours. The next day, drain all the excess water and set aside.
Slice the pork belly into strips and season with salt and chinese five spice. Transfer the raw pork belly to an airtight container and chill in the fridge overnight. The next day, heat a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the pork belly and sear on both sides until browned, about 3 minutes on either side. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool before assembling joong.
To assemble joong, start off with 2 leaves, overlap them slightly, and fold them in half at a diagonal, and twist to create a little “cup”. Add a scoop of rice and then layer on peanuts, pork belly, Chinese sausage, and half or a whole salted egg yolk (I opted for half yolks). Cover everything with another scoop of sticky rice. Wrap a third leaf around the “base” of the joong. While holding firmly, fold the exposed edge of the joong over and bend the top of the leaves down. Take a piece of twine and tightly wrap it around the joong a few times and then tie the ends together.
Tightly pack the joong into a large stock pot. Fully submerge them with cold water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once it boils, reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. I end up reducing to low heat so it doesn’t boil over. Simmer the joong with the lid on for 5 hours. Keep an eye on it because if the water gets too low you will need to add some more water to the pot. I boil some water in a kettle and add it to the pot when I need to.
Remove the joong from the water and allow to cool for about an hour before enjoying. Store at room temperature for about a day, in the fridge for 5 days, or in the freezer for months.