RICE DUMPLING or 粽(Zòng)子(Zi) (GF)

MAIN INGREDIENTS: sticky rice; green wrapping leaves (usually bamboo or reed leaves); fillings can include smoked BBQ meat, red bean paste, dates, and green beans.

TASTE and TEXTURE: sticky rice wrapped and cooked in bamboo leaves, giving off a grassy aroma; a light, sweet after taste depending on the fillings.

HISTORY: The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the four major festivals celebrated by Han Chinese. Eating sticky rice dumplings is a quintessential part of this festival. Historians say that during the Warring States period 2,200 years ago, Qu Yuan (屈Qū 原Yuán), a renowned poet and a minister for the Chu government, faced persecution instigated by jealous contemporaries, and Qu eventually drowned himself in the Miluo River. Many in the Chu State mourned him, leading to a tradition that persists to this day, where festivalgoers pay tribute on to Qu by throwing rice dumplings into the water, a gesture originally meant to prevent fish from eating Qu’s corpse. Other traditions include dragon boat racing and taking a Chinese mugwort bath, which are supposed to cleanse energies and ward off evil spirts. The dragon boats customarily have dragon heads at the front, with the bodies kept long and skinny. The boats resemble longer kayaks, and are decorated with dragon scales and adorned with colorful ribbons. Chinese mugwort is usually dried starting in April after the Qingming holiday. The dried mugwort is then used for an energy cleansing bath.