It’s the end of May and we Chinese in Hong Kong like to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival by eating Jung. In the south we pronounce this sticky rice parcel as Jung, or Zong or Zong-Zi if you are from the north but I’ve heard other dialects with similar names given to this dish. The main ingredients are usually glutinous rice with a bit of bean and meat filling. There are so many variations depending on the region you are from and family preferences so there is no proper recipe. I have been eating my mum and aunts Jung for so many years that I didn’t even know there was such a tradition until my mother in law came over to help with the baby, and started preparing the ingredients. Growing up, due to my background, my mum used to only make Jung around Chinese/Lunar New Year time so only recently I learned people in the Far East only make and eat this at the end of May/Dragon Boat Festival!
You can eat Jung for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a snack. Usually it is nice when it comes out of the pot, hot and steaming. The glutinous rice is soft, gooey and slightly chewy. Otherwise it can be microwaved. I personally prefer to pan fry or grilling it after it is reheated to give it a crispy edge. Depending on the ingredients used or the design the Jung is wrapped in, you can tell where the people wrapping the Jung comes from. The shape of the Jung is also quite distinctive depending on the region or ethnicity.
My mum makes the triangle one, more of a lop sided pyramid, when she is feeling lazy. This is a good size for one person. She also makes the long cylindrical shape Jung which is around 11 inches long. One of those usually feeds a family of 4. Her main ingredients are glutinous rice, split mung bean, and seasoned pork belly. She also makes a yellow coloured Jung which is an alkali variation. You eat that with a syrup-like sauce. Another of her favourite is called Hung Lam Jung. She uses some green leaf herb which she chops and mixes into the rice. Once the parcel is boiled and you open it up, you will get a red colouring in the rice. I don’t eat the fancy ones. I rather stick to the boring glutinous rice and meat version. In some regions, like Hong Kong, certain Jung is eaten dipped in sugar!
Then there’s the Hakka Jung. That too has many variations. Some Hakka Jung has glutinous rice with some slit mung bean, then a whole shed load of ingredients such as a combination of shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimps, dried scallops, peanuts, sesame seeds, salted duck egg yolk, chicken, Chinese sausages, and chopped sweet chestnuts could be included. I have tasted 2 variations and I had jaw ache chewing all those nuts! Some people add black sesame seeds. The shape is slightly different too, more like a twisted long, skinny and tube-like crisp packet with both end pressed flat. Usually the mother in law makes the plain glutinous rice with a piece of seasoned pork
belly or chicken in the centre for us westernised kids. Yes, we just prefer the plain, basic Jung similar to the Lo Mei Gai (Glutinous rice with chicken steamed in lotus leaf) you can order easily at Chinese restaurants. Some people just over complicate the recipe. Below are some of the standard fillings used. Some people mix it all together while other don’t. My mother in law’s ingredients are all copped up into bitesize pieces so you don’t really need utensils.
Then I found out there is another variation of Hakka Jung. This one has a thin wooden stick inserted into it. Once cooked you pull the stick out before you eat the Jung. The stick gives the rice a saffron reddish, yellowish tint. Looks really nice but I am not sure if it gave a certain flavour or not.
The Vietnamese also have a similar dish to the Jung, if not the same. The ingredients and pronunciation is similarly too. Traditionally the broad leaf bamboo leaves are used by the Chinese but Vietnamese Jung is wrapped in Dong leaves, though you can find some made with bamboo leaves. The shape is usually square too. A square mould is used to achieve this look but I have seen professionals just fold the leaves into square parcels. It’s so amazing to watch. Other countries such as Jamaica or Thailand also have similar foods wrapped in leaves but they use palm or banana leaves instead. My friend used greaseproof paper and foil when she couldn’t get her hands on some bamboo leaves!
Just a few examples I have found
I have come across other shapes including uniformed pyramids, and a humped shaped jung. I am not sure if the latter was a tradition or my aunty was rubbish at wrapping Jung!
Today I am going to share with you “My Jung Making Adventure”. My mum used to make the Jung in my household. We didn’t get to practice making them because my mum said we would only be making a mess and waste her rice. She always say you can only watch! Only last year I really got to practice. My mother in law came to stay with us because I just had a baby. Me and my big mouth, I told her my mum made long, and triangle ones. My mother in law was intrigued and wanted to learn to make triangle ones too because they were smaller and faster to cook. Hmmmmm, I had to learn quick! My first attempt was a disaster. My 2nd one was perfect then it went down hill from there. A week later I got to practice again. This time every single one was perfect. I think I’ve mastered it! I was well chuffed with myself.
These Jung below were made by an Aunty next door.
The Fun Begins!
This year I have decided to have a go on my own at making Jung. First of all I need to go to the market for the supplies. I know I definitely need bamboo leaves and glutinous rice. Split mung beans and grass/reed for tying the parcels are just bonuses. In Hong Kong they sell products by the “Catty”, not pounds or kilograms. This was going to be fun. Also the glutinous rice ran out in my local supermarket that is why I had to resort to buying from the market. I am used to buying the rice by the bag but this time I had to guess how much I needed. Also it didn’t help they had 2 grades of glutinous rice to choose from. I bought 3 catty of both grades just to make sure. I wasn’t going to sit and count the bamboo leaves so I bought 4 bundles, 2 bundles of grass/reed for tying and I have cotton string at home as back up if I run out, 1 catty of split mung bean since I don’t like them anyway but it’s good for giving the Jung a bit of texture. Next I went to the buy 3 chicken legs, and some salted duck egg yolks. Yup, in Hong Kong you can just buy the yolks and no need to worry about wasting the egg whites. Jung Recipe Link.
The good thing about Chinese cooking is that we don’t really weigh our ingredients. Most times we just guess the amount or just use what we have in the house to roughly gauge the portions. The other good thing with Chinese cooking is, you can leave out ingredients or add your own. Any left overs you can used in other cooking recipes. These ingredients I used are rough estimates using a Chinese rice bowl.
I am actually preparing the ingredients as I am writing this blog so hopefully this isn’t going to take too long.
You need to soak the glutinous rice and mung beans in water overnight. Place them in separate bowls unless you want to mix them up. It is up to you. Make sure there is enough room for the water to cover over the rice/beans. It will absorb the water and expand. I know because I just went to check and the rice is sitting above the waterline. I am transferring some into another bowl and adding more water. Drain and wash well the next day. Add some salt to the rice and split beans. I only added around half a T-spoon for every 4 bowls of rice because baby was going to eat it later. Just don’t over do it because the filling has flavour anyway. Besides most people add soy sauce or other condiments when eating Jung.
Some people would soak their leaves in water for 5-6 hours until soft but I prefer to boil the grass/reed and bamboo leaves to sanitise and clean them. 15 to 20 minutes is good enough. Also give both sides of the leaves a wash with the rough side of a sponge to get rid of any stubborn marks. This will get rid of any mold or bugs. That’s a problem here in Hong Kong, nothing escapes mold and bugs! Also by boiling the leaves and reed will making it more flexible, and get rid of a lot of the earthy smell. The hubs thought I was preparing herbal medicine. Rinse again with hot water then again with cold then let it the leaves drain off any excess water. After this stage you can fold and put in a zip lock bag for use at a later date if you are not using them straight away. You can freeze the leaves but remember to let it thaw at room temperature for at least a few hours before you use it. If you re-soak frozen leaves they might split.
After washing the bamboo leaves cut off 2-3 cm off both ends
I was only planning to use glutinous rice, mung bean, chicken and salted duck egg yolks in my Jung but then I found out I have some sweet chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, and dried scallops at the bottom of my freezer. Well, might as well empty the freezer while I am at it.
Some people like whole nuts but I prefer the nuts are in chewable size pieces. Split the egg yolks into small pieces. Soaked the mushrooms, and scallops in hot water to rehydrate them. Once rehydrated I cut off the stalks of the mushrooms then I sliced it up into little strips. I then cut the chicken to around 2cm chunks.
I stir fried the chicken until it was cooked before I added the rest of the ingredients. I then add a bit of water to make the sauce, seasoning it with salt, soy sauce and a bit of sugar, then a few dollops of oyster flavoured sauce, and some chicken stock powder. Let it simmer for a bit before lastly thicken it with some corn starch. Obviously you can add whatever sauce you like it. This was just down to personal preference.
LETS BEGIN!
I tied my strings/grass in a knot and hung it up on a hook. This will make tying a lot more easier later. I later found out one bundle had 94 leaves. Divide that into 2, which makes it around 47 if I use 2 leaves per Jung. I’m going to be here for a long day!
I am making the 4 cornered Triangle Jung. This method you will need 2 to 3 leaves depending on the shape and size. I found for a beginner, using 3 leaves makes it much easier to handle and makes the leaves a lot stronger. Just treat the 2 top leaves as one. (Right handed)
This part is important. Place left leaf over right leaf. (If you are left handed then you do the opposite. Use a mirror next to the monitor to view the picture if it helps). Making sure the tip of the leaves are pointing inwards like the picture. The distance between the left edge of the leaf and the right edge of the leaf is around 18 inches. I angled the leaves slightly so that the bottom edge is align between my hands.
I personally like the top of the leaves facing out/up like the picture above. The underside of the leaf shows the big vein. Some people say the top of the leaf stops the rice from sticking. I don’t find that to be true. I find that if you pack the rice nice and tight the rice will not stick to the leaf.
I flipped the leaves over to show you the under/vein side of the leaf. Where my hand is you need to level the leaves together. This edge will become the pointed part of the cone so it needs to be strong.
Keep hold of the leaf in position, the underside is the side up now.
I rearranged my hands so they are now in front of me and my thumbs are on the top. The inside/underside/back of the leaves is facing you, up. Now the align edge is on the top edge.
Using your right hand, bend the top edge up to form a cone shape. Hold this with your left hand.
If you are right handed fold the right handside leaf on top of the left handside leaf to form a cone shape. (Opposite if left handed). The cone needs to be around 3 inches deep. Make sure there is no hole at the bottom of the cone.
Tip: This part is important if you are new to this. Both top bits of the leaves can be the same length or the right slightly longer (Right Handed. Opposite for Left Handers).
It helps with the final fold.
Holding the cone firmly in the left hand, use your right hand and press down where the rice line is.
Press flat with your right hand.
Using your right hand thumb press down the leaf on the left edge. Then hold down with your left thumb.
Don’t move your left thumb. Fold down on the right edge with your right hand.
Using your right hand fingers start to press down form a triangle. If you are lucky you might have the leaf vein on top as a guide. This doesn’t always appear due to the size of the leaf.
Just make yourself a corner.
It is not clear in the picture but if you got everything right you should be able to feel the vein on the leaf on top. (By the way, it doesn’t always happened due to the size of your leaves). This will help you fold the last bit.
Pinch the corner and fold the rest of the leaves to the right or left depending on which side has more coverage. If the left side has more coverage then fold to the right and vice versa.
Get a string and wrap around at least twice to secure the Jung and tie with 2 knots. If this doesn’t work for you just do your best.
Wrap the string any how you like until it is secure. I found the grass/reed kept snapping quite often and it really annoyed me.
Once you have wrapped enough double check the strings are tight before putting in a deep pan of cold or hot water. They will be hard to get out in one piece if one get loose in the cooking process. Make sure the Jung is fully submerged or about 1 inch or water above the Jungs. Once it starts to boil you can turn down the heat to simmer.
The first time you might not succeed. Don’t worry if you need to go crazy with the string or even wrap the string around all directions. I am not here to judge. Besides it is what’s inside that counts. I cooked my Jung for 1.5 hours. That’s because the size makes it easier to cook and my filling was pre-cooked. If you are cooking from raw I would suggest an extra 30-40 minutes depending on the meat. The more it is cooking the stickier the rice becomes. If you are cooking with raw belly pork I would suggest 2.5 hours minimum to make sure that pork fat is melted and the meat is going to fall apart when you cut it open.
OMG! Here I am 6 hours later and it is already gone past 9pm! When you have a baby, and trying to write a blog everything takes 10 times longer! I am not doing this again next year! I have only manage to cook 39 Jungs in the first batch, and I have around 15 on the side waiting to be cooked. I still have a pot full of rice left but running out of filling. Think I’ve over estimated what I needed. I might even have to stop and go to bed soon. The funny thing was, when I went next door to give my neighbour some Jung I saw her sitting in the corner of the living room still wrapping hers!
Take Two!
Last night I manage to cook 71 Jungs before I went to bed. I gave 40 away to family and neighbours. Yes, I have 31 in the fridge and I still have half a pot of rice in the fridge for take 2! I still have a lot of rice and leaves left. I didn’t realise each bundle had around 90 leaves. I’ve bought 4 bundles incase some of the leaves were too small or ripped. At least I can dry the remaining leaves for next time if I don’t use them all.
Time for take two. Ok this time round I found some filling without having to leave the house. I found some belly pork! This time the recipe is: Glutinous rice, mung bean, and seasoned belly pork but going to throw in some left over salted egg yolks and mushrooms. The pork was cut in to chunky cubes and marinated with seasoning and 5 spice powder and left over night to soak up the flavour. This time I boiled the Jung for 2.5 hours because the meat was raw, I then turned off the heat and left it sitting in the hot water for a further 40 minutes. The Jung turned out quite nice. No sign of any fat in sight. The meat just fell apart. The mung beans were extra soft and the rice was extra sticky. This time round I made 22 Jung, that’s a total of 93!
After eating 2 Jungs each for brunch and dinner for the last 4 days I have pan fried this one to try to entice the hubs to have one more meal before I freeze the rest for another day!
Unless you really love eating Jung or just want to have a bit of fun making them, just like me, I really wouldn’t recommend you making them. It is very time consuming preparing, making and boiling it. Unless you have a lot of friends and family you can give some away to otherwise you will end up with a lot of Jung to get through over the next few weeks. That was what it was like in my household, my mum made us eat Jung nearly 3 meals a day for the next 2 weeks! I found out today it wasn’t just me that took nearly 4 days from start to finish, my neighbour’s mother in law is still wrapping hers 5 days on!
If you do decide to use my recipe, don’t worry, I have adjusted the portion of ingredients so you won’t be making 93 Jungs like I have. Jung Recipe Link.
Have Fun & Bon Appetit!
Shan x