Happy Father's Day!!!

Today is Father's Day!!!!! so I want to take this opportunity, to say,

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

hehe....yea, I know my dad reads my blog =p

So, we had a big dinner (family only) to celebrate this day (and also the zongzi festival)! hehe...there was long beans with prawns, pumpkin pork ribs, feet soup (pork leg and chicken feet), and also not forgetting, many many rounds of carbonated drinks! hehe...yea, this is the only time we can drink carbonated drinks and not feel guilty about the calories piling up in our bodies. Or, at least....MY body =p

Incidentally, this Tuesday will be the chinese Zongzi festival, otherwise known as the rice dumpling festival.

So how did this festival come about??

Zongzi originated from the kingdom of Chu during the Warring States period, to commerorate the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet of that time, who was also a minister in the emperor's court. Qu Yuan was a very patriotic person, and therefore tried repeatedly to warn his emperor and fellow countrymen about the expanding Qin army. When the Qin General Bai Qi took Yingdu (the Chu Capital) in 278 BC, Qu Yuan felt very deep grief and drowned himself in the Miluo River. The local folks felt greatly saddened, that they rushed out in long boats, and beating drums to scare the fish away. They also threw rice dumplings into the river to prevent the fish from eating Qu Yuan's body.
Since that time, it has been a customary on this day to enjoy zongzi as a memorial to the patriotic poet. In commemoration of the initial attempts to find Qu Yuan's body, boat races are also held, and the day is also known as the Dragon Boat Festival.

Now you know....why Chinese folk worldwide celebrate this Unique festival ^_^

Time for pictures! All courtesy of Astro Channel 19's "Taste With Jason"

Delectable rice dumplings!

All the ingredients to make the delicious zongzi =)

Just out of the steamer! (pengukus)

Washing of the Bamboo leaf used to wrap the rice dumplings. These leaves are all imported from China!

There are many kinds of zongzi available for sale, with the most popular being the Hokkien Zongzi, aka 'Bak Chang' in hokkien =) These are filled with meat, and chestnuts, and sometimes even egg yolk. Another local favourite is Jianshui Zong, which is glutinous rice treated with lye water, which gives them their distinctive yellow colour. They are typically smaller than the normal zongzi. These dumplings are usually unfilled, and are usually eaten with sugar syrup, or sweets. For me, I prefer eating them with Kaya!(Coconut Jam)

ok ok....study now -_-"