Shortcut Sticky Rice Dumplings (Zongzi)

Zongzi (Cantonese Style), by thewoksoflife.com

4.94 from 15 votes

Shortcut Sticky Rice Dumplings (Zongzi)

This recipe is a shortcut to zongzi (Chinese sticky rice dumpling) flavors without all the work. No need for hours of wrapping and cooking!

Prep Time6

Cook Time1 30

Total Time7 30

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 675kcal

Author: Sarah

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups uncooked sticky rice (also called glutinous rice or "sweet rice")
8-10 dried bamboo leaves
1/2 pound pork belly
2 tablespoons light soy sauce (divided)
1/2 teaspoon salt (plus 1 teaspoon, divided)
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup raw shelled peanuts
2-3 Chinese sausages (lap cheung; cut into small chunks)
2-3 scallions (chopped)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Soak the uncooked sticky rice overnight (or at least 6 hours). Soak the dried bamboo leaves for at least 3 hours (or overnight). After soaking, wash and rinse each leaf front and back, keeping them in a large bowl or tub of water so they don’t dry out.
Cut the pork belly into ½ inch bite-sized pieces, marinate it with 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and ½ teaspoon white pepper. Marinate for 1 – 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Soak the peanuts for 1 hour. Then boil for 10 minutes, drain, and set aside.
Drain the soaked sticky rice completely. Mix the rice with 1 tablespoon light soy sauce and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.
Add the peanuts to the rice along with the Chinese sausages and scallions. (If adding cooked salted duck egg yolks and/or soaked dried seafood, you can mix them into the rice as well).
Line a bamboo steamer (or large shallow heatproof bowl) with 6-7 bamboo leaves. These bamboo leaves will provide flavor to the rice as well as prevent it from sticking. All with a layer of rice mixture, a layer of pork belly, another layer of rice mixture, and a layer of pork belly on top. Make sure everything is evenly distributed (so it can cook evenly).
Cover the mixture with the remaining bamboo leaves to trap in moisture as well as the bamboo leaf aroma. If using a bamboo steamer, you can simply put on the cover. If using a heatproof bowl to steam, you can use a toothpick to keep the bamboo leaves in place on top of the rice.
Place the rice in the steamer, starting with cold water. Turn on the heat to high, and once the water starts to boil, steam for 60-90 minutes. Check periodically to make sure there is still water in the steamer, and add hot water if needed.
Keep in the steamer on low heat until ready to serve. The rice will harden if cooled. Serve hot!

Notes

Note: Using this shortcut method, the sticky rice won’t get as gooey as the rice in traditional zongzi, which are cooked in a pot with water, but it’s a trade-off when it comes to time savings here. You CAN try to achieve a slightly gooier texture by adding 1/2-3/4 cup water to the rice right before steaming.

Nutrition

Shortcut Sticky Rice Dumplings (Zongzi) by The Woks of Life. Recipe URL: https://body-goals.fit/lazy-sticky-rice-dumpling-shortcut-zongzi/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-40515":{"type":"food","name":"Shortcut Sticky Rice Dumplings (Zongzi)","slug":"wprm-shortcut-sticky-rice-dumplings-zongzi","image_url":"https:\/\/thewoksoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/zongzi-21.jpg","rating":{"count":15,"total":74,"average":4.94,"type":{"comment":15,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"amount":"2 1\/2","unit":"cups","name":"uncooked sticky rice","notes":"(also called glutinous rice or "sweet rice")","converted":{"2":{"amount":"500","unit":"g"}},"id":1932,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2 1\/2","unit":"cups","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":0,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2 1\/2","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"500","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"amount":"8-10","unit":"","name":"dried bamboo leaves","notes":"","id":1369,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"8-10","unit":"","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":1,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"8-10","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"pound","name":"pork belly","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"250","unit":"g"}},"id":637,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"pound","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":2,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"pound","unitParsed":"pound"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"250","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"light soy sauce","notes":"(divided)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"30","unit":"ml"}},"id":330,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":3,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"30","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}},{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"salt","notes":"(plus 1 teaspoon, divided)","id":260,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":4,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"dark soy sauce","notes":"","id":274,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":5,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","name":"Shaoxing wine","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"15","unit":"ml"}},"id":272,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":6,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"tablespoon","unitParsed":"tablespoon"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"15","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}},{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"sugar","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"2","unit":"g"}},"id":273,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":7,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"2","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","name":"white pepper","notes":"","id":314,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":8,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","name":"raw shelled peanuts","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"75","unit":"g"}},"id":3941,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774170689000},"type":"ingredient","uid":9,"unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/2","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"75","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"amount":"2-3","unit":"","name":"Chinese sausages","notes":"(lap cheung; 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