Sweet Zongzi

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5 from 12 votes

Sweet Zongzi is a traditional Asian sticky rice dumpling made with glutinous rice soaked briefly and mixed with kansui for characteristic texture and color, wrapped tightly in bamboo leaves, and boiled or steamed until cooked. Its preparation includes soaking bamboo leaves and red-dyed su mu wood for aroma and color, followed by careful wrapping and cooking, resulting in chewy, sticky rice parcels with a subtle sweet flavor from brown sugar syrup used in pairing or serving.

Prep Time

2 hrs 30 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

3 hrs 15 mins

Servings: 14

Calories: 210 kcal

Course: Side Dish, Dessert, Snacks

Cuisine: Asian, Chinese

Ingredients

3 cups glutinous rice
14 pieces su mu 蘇木 or sappan wood, red dyed yam (caponata) ingredient
1 tablespoon kansui (potassium carbonate & sodium bicarbonate solution) or lye water
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
30 pieces bamboo leaves dried
14 pieces Strings

Syrup:

1 cup brown sugar
½ cup water

Instructions

Cup of Yum

Put 3 cups of glutinous rice into a glass container. (I try to use a glass container because the rice will mix with kansui later.)
Wash the glutinous rice a few times (3 times). Then, pour 4 cups of water to soak the glutinous rice for 1-2 hours. (Don’t over soak the rice because it will break easily.)
Next, wash and soak 30 pieces of dried bamboo leaves in hot water for 45 minutes to an hour. (In this sweet zongzi recipe, I can make around 14 small ones, it requires 28 bamboo leaves. But, I normally soak a couple extra in case some leaves are broken.)
After that, rinse and soak 14 pieces of su mu (蘇木) or sappan wood for 10 minutes. ( I used 14 pieces because in this recipe I can make around 14 small zhong.)
Cut 14 strings, each string is around 70 inches long.
After soaking the glutinous rice for 1-2 hour, drain the rice well.
Put the drained glutinous rice into the glass container. Then, add 1 tablespoon of kansui (potassium carbonate & sodium bicarbonate solution) or lye water. Mix it very well and make sure every rice is mixed with kansui. You will see the rice immediately change to slightly yellow when you add kansui.
Pour 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil and mix well with the kansui glutinous rice.
Take 2 soaked bamboo leaves folded down to make a shell like, so it can hold the rice. See the details in the video below the recipe card.
Scoop 1.5-2 tablespoons of kansui glutinous rice from step 8 into the bamboo leaves.
The following, put 1 piece of soaked su mu (蘇木) or sappan wood in the middle of the rice.
After, scoop another 1.5-2 tablespoons of kansui glutinous rice on top and cover up the su mu (蘇木).
Later on, fold the side down and close the end. Cut extra hard and long parts. Take a string, wrap and tie the zhong. (Don’t tie the zhong too tightly because the rice will expand when cooking. Just tight enough to secure the bamboo leaves and rice inside, to leave some room for the rice to expand.)After wrapping the zhong, shake the zhong and make sure the rice is level off or even and not only go to one side. See details in the video.
Or, you can wrap the zhong in triangle shape and don't put any su mu (蘇木) or sappan wood inside. See details in the video.
After wrapping the zhong, put them into the instant pot pressure cook. (You can boil them over the top stove by filling enough water into a pot and making sure water covers the zhong. Turn on high fire until water is boiling, then turn the fire to medium small and boil for 1.5- 2 hours. Keep track of the water evaporating and add water while boiling.)
Pour 8 cups of water into the instant pot pressure cooker. (Or, enough water to cover the zhong.) Then, close the lid and vent. Push the manual button to adjust the time for 45 minutes at high pressure and natural release pressure.
Meanwhile, put 1 cup of brown sugar into a pot.
Then, pour ½ cup of water into the pot. Turn the fire to small. Keep stirring it and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes depending how thick you want the syrup to be. (I did around 20 minutes.)
When the syrup cools off, it will become thicker.
When the zhong is done, open the lid and take out the zhong. (Be careful it is hot.)
Put the jianshui zong on the plate and let it cool off a little bit.
Untied and unwrap the kansui zong. You can see this beautiful amber color.
Cut the gan sui zhong or alkaline rice dumpling into half.
Remove and discard the su mu (蘇木) or sappan wood because we don't eat it. (Su mu changes to dark red purplish because it is mixed with the alkaline rice.)
Drizzling some syrup from step 19 on the gan sui zhong. Or, dip it into sugar before eating.

Notes

Soak bamboo leaves in hot water for 45 minutes to an hour before wrapping to soften them.
Soak glutinous rice for 1 to 2 hours but avoid over-soaking to prevent rice from breaking.
Soak su mu (sappan wood) slices briefly to add red-purple color to the rice.
Add vegetable oil to rice mixture to prevent sticking to bamboo leaves.
Wrap zongzi snugly but not too tight to allow rice expansion during cooking.
Cook by boiling for 1.5 to 2 hours, topping water as it evaporates, or use a pressure cooker for faster preparation.
Store leftovers refrigerated 3-5 days or freeze; reheat by boiling for best texture.
Remove su mu pieces before eating the cooked zongzi.

Nutrition Information

Calories 210kcal (11%) Carbohydrates 49g (16%) Protein 3g (6%) Fat 1g (2%) Saturated Fat 1g (5%) Polyunsaturated Fat 1g (6%) Monounsaturated Fat 1g (5%) Sodium 8mg (0%) Potassium 53mg (1%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 16g (32%) Calcium 18mg (2%) Iron 1mg (6%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 14 Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 210

% Daily Value*

Calories	210kcal	11%
Carbohydrates	49g	16%
Protein	3g	6%
Fat	1g	2%
Saturated Fat	1g	5%
Polyunsaturated Fat	1g	6%
Monounsaturated Fat	1g	5%
Sodium	8mg	0%
Potassium	53mg	1%
Fiber	1g	4%
Sugar	16g	32%
Calcium	18mg	2%
Iron	1mg	6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.