Expact's Journal: The Special Food for Dragon Boat Festival

Dragonboat Festival. As a foreigner, it seemed like a straightforward idea to me. A day on the water competing in boats. However, as with most traditions, it goes deeper than that, and inevitably in China it is going to have some strong culinary links.

Surely, everyone has tried “ZongZi”, or sticky rice parcels. Usually wound up in those long thick fronds, like a large, hefty pyramid or cylinder, deceptively heavy and clearly not something that is going to float well. Which make sense, for a food that as legend says, was meant to submerge into the river and distract the fish from devouring the body of the poet Qu Yuan.  ZongZi, also usually contains salted egg yolk, fatty pork lumps and often red or green beans. I have been gifted many ZongZi by students throughout the years. We often end up having them for lunch for weeks after the festival. I usually have a tube of tomato sauce on hand to add some sharp flavours to the rice.

However, there is a more alluring type of ZongZi that I really enjoy. The rice has alkali water added and it becomes a rather yellowy glutinous style. Often in the middle is a sweet red bean paste. This can come with a small bowl of caster sugar to dip in and goes down really well with a latte!

Another traditional food we often have at the festival time is five bean porridge. It is mostly consumed for its health benefits, especially during this time of humid weather and season changing, when many people are struck down by lingering illnesses. Each of the five beans (soy bean, mung bean, red bean, black soy bean, white bean) have their own health properties and depending on who you ask about it, you may spend a long day being informed about its efficacy.

After the races had wrapped up, once as I was on my evening jog along the river, I met hundreds of people enjoying a feast. This is something I had never heard of or seen mentioned before. The villages hosting their local boat crews, totally smack-bang in the middle of the narrow lanes, complete with outdoor kitchens and tables with temporary roofing. As with most of my experiences here, I was given many cheerful greetings and invitations to join. Somehow this always results in my being mobbed by piles of curious kids who want to grab my nose. Eventually I was able to make my polite farewells and continue my run, although with a heavier stomach and fuller heart than before.