Am I being cheated by spending money on rice dumplings leaves?

The most embarrassing thing in the world is paying the "common sense tax".

There was a recent news report about a man who bought some rice dumplings leaves online. After receiving the goods, he found that the so-called rice dumplings leaves were actually reed leaves, and they were right at his doorstep.

If I had known that reed leaves could be used to make rice dumplings, I could have picked as many as I wanted in front of my house.

In fact, there are many plants that can be used to wrap zongzi. Even if there are no reed leaves, there are other leaves. Come and have a look with Tadpole Jun. Maybe there are some right in front of your house! !

01

Reed leaves of orthodox origin

Most wild grass plants are strong and resilient, and reeds are very common in most parts of my country. Large and small lakes and riverbanks are the homes of reeds for generations.

The Dragon Boat Festival falls in midsummer, and the newly grown reeds have grown into a lush green tent, with the slender reed leaves verdant and lush.

Pick plenty of broad reed leaves, trim them slightly, soak them overnight and then boil them for a while. The fragrant, jade-colored reed leaves can be used to wrap rice dumplings.

The reed leaves that grow hugging the stem have beautiful curved notches after being picked. Photo from lnyouth.org.cn

Legend has it that after Qu Yuan resolutely jumped into the Miluo River, people threw rice dumplings into the river to commemorate the poet. These rice dumplings were wrapped in seasonal reed leaves.

Perhaps inspired by this ancient legend, in northern my country and many other places, reed leaves during the Dragon Boat Festival have almost become synonymous with rice dumplings.

02

Four Seasons Online's Indocalamus

Reeds, which are native to plains and water towns, become rare in mountainous areas. The mountainous areas in East and Southeast my country are suitable for the growth of bamboo plants, and Ruo bamboo grows everywhere on both sides of mountain roads.

The short bamboo has large leaves, making it the most commonly used rice dumpling leaf in the Jiangnan area. Image from commons.wikimedia.org

Although Indocalamus is shorter than most species of bamboo, its large leaves have a wide range of uses.

Indocalamus leaves are not as slender as reed leaves, but are usually wider. They are extremely useful for making the triangular and square rice dumplings popular in the Jiangnan area, including the world-famous Jiaxing rice dumplings in Zhejiang.

Beautiful bamboo leaf rice dumplings, picture from the Internet

03

Bamboo shoots and leaves that turn decay into magic

In addition to bamboo leaves, the ma bamboo leaves from Fujian and Guangdong and the laurel bamboo leaves from Taiwan are also commonly used rice dumpling leaves.

However, bamboos are not the only ones that can be used to make zongzi. With some ingenuity, bamboo shoots have also found a place in the world of zongzi.

The seemingly useless bamboo shoots are actually good rice dumpling leaves. Image from commons.wikimedia.org

The so-called bamboo shoot leaves are not real leaves, but a few hard shells wrapped on the tips of bamboo shoots when they are unearthed. They will fall off naturally after the bamboo shoots grow taller.

Boil the bamboo shoots leaves collected patiently in the spring until soft and flatten them, and the interesting bamboo shoot leaves rice dumplings are ready.

The yellowish-brown rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo shoot leaves may not look very attractive, but they are naturally endowed with a strong bamboo shoot fragrance that cannot be imitated by other rice dumplings. They are a rare delicacy from the bamboo village that is rarely tasted in everyday life.

Image from watermark

04

Alsophila leaves deep in the mountains

It is almost an impossible task to find reeds and bamboos in the mountains of Shandong or the border between Henan and Shaanxi.

However, this difficulty could not stop people from wanting to make zongzi. The oak trees on the mountain took on the responsibility of supplying leaves for making zongzi.

The oval leaves of the oak tree have beautiful serrated edges and are so large that one leaf can cover most of an average person's face. It is no problem to pick them and use them to make rice dumplings or something.

Although oak leaves are large and beautiful, it takes some effort to wrap them into rice dumplings. Photo from www.oaknames.org

However, oak leaves taste bitter and are full of fine hairs, so they must be boiled thoroughly and the hairs removed before they can be used to make rectangular rice dumplings with a light mountain fragrance.

The oak tree is also known as the pollock oak, so the oak leaf rice dumplings produced in Shandong are called quince leaf rice dumplings by local diners.

The simple oak leaf rice dumplings have a subtle mountain fragrance. Photo from www.lclvyou.com

05

Coconut leaves high above

The tall and straight coconut trees are not only one of the symbols of the ends of the earth, but also a precious tree species that can produce special ingredients. The elegant coconut milk and the sweet coconut stewed chicken are both well-known Hainan specialties.

Coconut leaves can also be used to wrap rice dumplings, but few people outside Qiongya know this.

Both the fruit and leaves of the coconut tree can be used to make delicious food. Photo from theconversation.com

The huge coconut leaves can grow up to 4 meters in length and are naturally split into two rows of lobes that are more than one meter long. They look like huge green feathers and are particularly beautiful in the sea breeze.

Take a piece of coconut leaf about two fingers wide, boil it in water and then roll it into a cylinder to make the legendary coconut leaf rice dumpling.

Coconut leaves are very tough, so coconut leaf dumplings have a particularly firm and chewy texture.

Coconut leaf rice dumplings are also very popular in Vietnam and other countries. Photo from the Internet

06

The all-encompassing Hiiragi leaf

Plants of the Marantaceae family are native to tropical regions of the Americas, but have now settled in warm regions around the world.

The starch-rich rhizome of the arrowroot is edible, and the graceful peacock arrowroot is also a popular foliage plant.

However, the zhōng leaf, which also comes from the arrowroot family, is almost entirely made for rice dumplings.

Hiiragi leaves can be considered as a larger and more luxurious version of zong leaves, picture from commons.wikimedia.org

Many places in South China and Southwest my country like to cultivate hollyhock leaves as exclusive rice dumpling leaves. The hollyhock leaves with long petioles are almost oval in shape and can grow to more than one foot long and one foot wide.

After cutting off the petiole, washing and boiling it, it becomes a larger version of the rice dumpling leaf that can easily contain everything in the stomach.

Whether it is the conventional triangular rice dumpling, the simple long rice dumpling, or the domineering Zhaoqing wrapped steamed rice dumpling, it is easy to wrap them with hollyhock leaves.

Image from the Internet

07

The “broad-minded” banana leaf

The banana family all look quite majestic. Not to mention the hundreds of pounds of bananas in a bunch, a single banana leaf is enough to act as a pure natural green version of a single bed sheet.

If you pick banana leaves and use them as super rice dumpling leaves, you can definitely make a giant rice dumpling.

You know what, this is what people do in many places in Guangxi and Yunnan.

The local pillow-shaped large rice dumplings are mostly wrapped in banana leaves, and it is difficult for people who are not big eaters to eat one in a day.

During the Chinese New Year when food is easy to preserve, a dozen pounds of banana leaf rice dumplings are enough to satisfy the food cravings of a whole family.

Banana leaves are transformed into super rice dumpling leaves. Image from commons.wikimedia.org

In Vietnam, which is deeply influenced by Chinese culture, the appearance of banana leaf rice dumplings becomes more interesting.

People would meticulously fold banana leaves into square boxes, put in stuffing and tie them into flat squares with clear edges and corners, which gave people a sense of déjà vu of the Lembas rations in the movie "The Lord of the Rings".

Come and take a look at this brick-shaped banana leaf rice dumpling, it’s really amazing.

Image from commons.wikimedia.org

Finally, Tadpole wishes you all:

Interactive topic: What kind of leaves are used to wrap rice dumplings in your place?

END

Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Author: Qin Yu

Editor/Heart and Paper