Glutinous Rice Dumplings

I've never bothered about the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival (農曆五月初五、所謂重五雙毒、端午節) because it isn't in my family's culture to observe it, and neither did friends around us bother with it. Dragon-boat races go on through the year as an exercise activity, so it isn't out of the ordinary. I know what the festival is about, the poems around it, and such. That's sufficient. A customary food item of glutinous rice dumplings (粽子) or bak zhang eaten during this period. We have shops specializing in these dumplings that are quiet all year round, and then suddenly see snaking queues the week before the festival.  

Glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves are ubiquitous, however, the filling aren't. It can be sweet or savory. Each Chinese dialect group has their own unique filling. I don't mind the savory ones; I'm just not keen on the sweet types. I do sometimes buy one or two to eat as a meal, depending on how big it is. I'm just not bothered to eat it specifically during Dragon Boat Festival. I have long discovered that these glutinous rice dumplings freeze so well, and they could just go into boiling water for a short bit, and they're ready to be eaten. 

This year, the festival fell on Monday 14 June, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Over the weekend, I received many bak zhang!!! The BFF's mom made a batch of bak zhang, and she gave me some! Wheeeee. I asked for two because that was all I wanted. It is hard work making bak zhang — prepping the ingredients and wrapping them up to steam. 

Choya also got a gift of duck and turkey 'bark zhang' gifted by Aunty L and Uncle J, steamed by Thunder Treatos. These 'dumplings' for the dogs are essentially food, not so much of a treat. The grain-free ingredients are all familiar to Choya's gut flora. So her 'dumplings' formed part of the base of her meals. The best part, there were shredded carrots in this mix. She got royally duped into eat carrots, something that she doesn't like. #winning