We’re chefing it up today as we headed over to CookInn Taiwan to make ZhongZi, a traditional Chinese dish often made and eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival. On the menu alongside it were Hsinchu pork meatball soup and, of course, everyone’s favorite, DIY bubble tea.
Now, I’m no professional chef, but I’d say I held my own throughout the entire cooking process.
We kicked things off with the DIY bubble tea. Before diving in, we learned a bit about the origin of tapioca pearls here in Taiwan. Interestingly, these pearls originally came from Thailand and were plum-flavored. Later on, people in Taiwan wanted to figure out how to make them themselves, and make them bigger! So, they used what they had, sweet potatoes. That’s how Taiwan’s signature chewy tapioca pearls came to be.
After we put our pearls on to boil, it was time to start on the ZhongZi. The process had two main parts. First, we stir-fried a mix of dried radish, shrimp, dried garlic, a bit of soy sauce, and sesame oil until golden and crispy. Then we moved to part two, adding in pork belly, squid, mushrooms, white wine, the rest of the soy sauce and sesame oil, and mushroom water to create a rich, savory filling.
With that ready, we turned to the sticky rice, which was already pre-cooked. We poured our flavorful stir-fry sauce into the rice and mixed it all together, tasting as we went, of course.
Then came the wrapping. Using bamboo leaves, we shaped little cones and layered our ingredients. First went a scoop of rice, flattened for even wrapping. On top went our radish-shrimp mix, then the pork belly, squid, and mushrooms around the sides. In the center, we placed a salted egg yolk, added more rice, and topped it off with boiled peanuts.
After wrapping it all tightly in the bamboo leaves, our ZhongZi went into the pot to boil for about 30–40 minutes.
While we waited, our tapioca pearls were ready, and we finished making our bubble tea, learning that it’s called “bubble tea” not because of the pearls, but because of the bubbles formed when the milk and tea are shaken together. Very foamy, very bubbly!
As our ZhongZi continued cooking, we were served a warm bowl of Hsinchu pork meatball soup, a dish often paired with ZhongZi during the festival.
Then, the moment we’d been waiting for, ZhongZi time! Naturally, a meal cooked with your own hands brings about a certain sense of pride, and I was definitely proud. With my ZhongZi in front of me and bubble tea to my right, I dug in and had a delicious, satisfying afternoon meal.
With all that being said, it was such a fun and meaningful experience to personally prepare a traditional meal that’s celebrated here in Taiwan, in Taiwan. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity.
I’ll talk to you all later, Bye!