I don't bother about the Dragon Boat Festival a.k.a Rice Dumpling Festival observed the 5th day of the 5th Lunar Month. I've never marked it even as a child, so it carries no significance for me. Although the dragon boat races are mildly interesting. It is summer solstice. Why would I care about a patriotic Chu poet in the Warring States who killed himself when his state got steamrolled over by Qin? But when friends' parents still bother to make and steam up rice dumplings, and allocate me two or three, I would happily accept.
There're a few types of rice dumplings, but I don't care for them all, especially not the sweet ones or the ones with red bean or lotus seed paste filling or to be eaten with sugar or kaya. Eioooow. I very much prefer savory rice dumplings, but not Nyonya dumplings (娘惹粽子).
I don't mind the savory Cantonese ones (裹蒸糉 or 鹹肉糉), but I don't like the version with mung beans or peanuts and pork belly because those don't taste that great. I like the Hokkien bak zhang (福建肉粽) because those pack a super savory punch.
O's Dad made rice dumplings and allocated us some. Happiness is when I get to steam up O's Dad's Hokkien bak zhang for dinner. O's Dad made two batches of bak zhang — one with a lot less salt and pork belly, and the other one with the standard soy and salt. ALL THE EFFORT. I heated up both to taste. Hey, both are good! The low-salt version is equally lovely; just add soy or XO sauce if you wish. The salty version is gorgeous, and a touch of sambal totally upped the game.
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