China News Service, Zhanjiang, June 13th. Title: "Duck Dumplings" in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, Hometown of Overseas Chinese: Weaving Hometown Thoughts
China News Agency reporter Liang Sheng
The annual Dragon Boat Festival is approaching. In places such as Leizhou, Xuwen, Suixi, and Mazhang in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, the hometown of overseas Chinese, locals always like to make a kind of rice dumplings called "Duck Noodles" in advance. Most of them are gifts to relatives and friends in other places.
According to Huang Sheng, a seafood agent who frequently travels to and from Zhanjiang, Zhuhai, and Macau, "Duck Nong" is a traditional food with unique local flavors in Zhanjiang, and it is also a must-eat for local people during the Dragon Boat Festival.
Zhanjiang people are good at weaving pu mats. Every two or three days before the Dragon Boat Festival, the villagers go to the wild to pick up the ancient botanical leaves, tear off the thorns from the leaves and wash them, and use the technique of weaving pu mats to weave them. The lifelike "Duck" has a fat and round body, a slender neck, and a head, mouth, wings, and tail.
After the "duck" "grows into", fill its buttocks and stomach with stuffing. This kind of zongzi is called "duck" by the locals.
Using fresh bok leaves can not only preserve the original flavor of the zongzi, but also taste the fragrance of the bok leaves when eating zongzi.
Huang Sheng also said that the people of Zhanjiang love "Duck Rice Dumplings" not only because of the exquisite appearance and peculiar taste, but also because of the unforgettable love of the homeland.
Every time he returned to Macau from Zhanjiang, some fellow villagers he met at work told them to remember to bring a bag of "Duck Nong" to them, saying that the "Duck Nong" from his hometown tasted the most "positive".
It is understood that the production process of "Duck Nie Dumpling" is complicated. First, the prepared botanical leaves must be de-thorned and washed, and the leaves of moderate hardness are selected and soaked, and the leaves are torn into two pieces of the same size along the leaf bones. Tie a knot on the head of the leaf and use four leaves to interlace and weave it into a "duck" shape.
After everything is ready, wash the clam leaves and chop them, fry them in a dry pan, stir them in the rice, and "fill the duck" together with other fillings. Finally, seal the mouth of the "duck". It can be steamed in a pot.
According to different tastes, the filling can be salted egg yolk, shiitake mushrooms, marinated pork belly, chicken, sausage, shrimp, or even wild fungus, chestnuts, and abalone, but it must be stir-fried with clam leaves and glutinous rice.
Aunt Chen, who has been selling rice dumplings near the Beiqiao Market in Zhanjiang City for many years, told reporters that Zhanjiang’s “Duck Dumplings”, also known as “Ancient Rice Dumplings”, have a long tradition. It takes only minutes to knit a "duck", but the shop is still happy.
Normally, she can sell dozens of "duck glutinous rice dumplings" every day, and every few days before the Dragon Boat Festival, the supply is in short supply.
"Most of the people who come to visit are elderly. Most of them are mailed to family members, relatives and friends who work in the field. The cooked'Duck Rice Dumpling' tastes strong and fragrant, and the clam leaves are used as ingredients in the filling, and it tastes fresh and fragrant. It's delicious, and everyone who has eaten it is always thinking about it." Aunt Chen said.
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