Dragon Boat Festival 2023: Hong Kong’s Zongzi Delights

The Dragon Boat Festival, a significant holiday in China and many other East Asian countries, is famed not just for its thrilling boat races, but also for its traditional fare – zongzi or rice dumplings. As 2023’s festival falls on June 22, preparations are underway to celebrate with a rich variety of these delicious, pyramid-shaped dumplings. Wrapped in bamboo leaves and filled with a diverse range of ingredients, the savoury or sweet zongzi are an eagerly anticipated part of the festival.

Restaurants in Hong Kong, renowned for their exquisite culinary craftsmanship, are eager to offer both traditional and innovative zongzi dishes. This year, some of the most enticing options include:

1. Lung King Heen introduces two new flavours: glutinous rice dumpling with osmanthus and green bean paste and rice dumpling with pork knuckle, conpoy, and Sarcodon aspratus (an edible fungus). Priced at HK$468, these offerings come with a serving of 2019 aged white tea.
2. Man Ho is featuring Chef Jayson Tang’s dried abalone rice dumpling with various ingredients including conpoy, shiitake, pork belly, and chicken. They also debut a Hokkien rice dumpling, known as bak chang, filled with shiitake mushroom, chestnuts, minced dried shrimp and pork belly.
3. For those who enjoy a kick, Chilli Fagara‘s chef, Chan Kai-ying, is spicing up the festival with rice dumplings infused with Sichuan spices, cured meat, and handmade chilli sauces.
4. The Legacy House at Rosewood Hong Kong offers a premium experience with their HK$598 glutinous rice dumplings, crafted daily. The dumplings are slow-boiled for seven hours and include both sweet and savoury varieties.
5. For those with a sweet tooth, Yue at the Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel is offering a sweetened red bean and aged tangerine peel rice dumpling, among other options.
6. Summer Palace under the Shangri-La Group provides a mini rice dumpling gift set that includes the sticky rice dumpling with abalone, conpoy, and pork belly, and another with dried tangerine peel and red beans.
7. Spring Moon, a one-Michelin-star restaurant, introduces four rice dumpling varieties, including “Golden Twins” glutinous rice dumplings filled with either lotus seed paste or a red date paste and lychee filling.
8. Fine-foods brand Dashijie offers a luxury experience with its 20-year vintage tangerine peel, red bean paste and Bentong ginger dumpling, among other unique choices.
9. Finally, for vegetarians, Regal Hotel provides a selection of rice dumplings with porcini mushrooms and mixed beans, and another with osmanthus red bean and taro paste.

Each offering is a culinary journey through flavours and textures, proving once again the timeless charm and diversity of zongzi. As the Dragon Boat Festival draws nearer, these establishments are all set to make this year’s celebrations uniquely tasty and memorable.

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