Since the Dumpling Day has just passed and Tyrone asked me what is a Dumpling Day, I am going to write something about it.



Rice dumpling or commonly known as bah-tzang is a traditional chinese food. The word 'bah-tzang' is actually in Taiwanese. The ancient Chinese called it zongzi.




The origins of bah-tzang are traced to the legend of Qu Yuan, a well-loved patriot poet who drowned himself in a river called Li Luo, due to the imminent fall of his country Chu which was one of the ancient Chinese kingdoms. To stop the fish from eating his body, people made rice dumplings and threw them into the river. Another version of the legend states that the dumplings were made to placate a dragon that lived in the river.




Rice dumplings are made for the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar.