Do you know?

Do you guys like this very special chinese food? Yes, Zong zi. In Indonesia we often refer this to Bak Cang. Bak Cang is made of glutionous rice  stuffed with different fillings (such as: skinless mung beans, red bean paste, jujubes(redbean), chinese bbq pork, chinese sausage, chinese black mushrooms, salted duck eggs, chestnuts, cooked peanuts, dried shrimps, taro, scallops and sometimes stuffed with minced chicken curry) and wrapped in bamboo leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling.

But do you guys know the origin of Zong Zi? Here it goes..

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates celebrated Chinese poet and statesman Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), whom many consider the father of Chinese poetry. Qu Yuan was a loyal confidante and minister of the King of Chu, but was wrongly accused of treachery and spent twenty years in exile, lamenting the fate of his beloved country and writing exquisite poetry.

Increasingly melancholy, Qu Yuan eventually committed suicide by drowning himself in the river, leaving behind devastated supporters who raced out into the river to search for his body, throwing small parcels of rice into the water to prevent the fish, serpents and dragons from taking it. Each year on the anniversary of his death, Qu Yuan’s supporters would throw offerings of rice into the river as a tribute, and zòngzi 粽子 represent these offerings.