Summer Dragon Boat Festival zongzi wrapped sticky rice with lily bulb 

5 hours to prep (mostly just to soak ingredients)
60 minutes to cook 
8 servings

Description

There are many zongzi flavors. I was inspired by a non-vegan Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) sticky rice recipe I found that featured dried lily bulbs.  So I researched it and found that studies show it can reduce burnout and inflammation. Before you eat it, read the latest studies and precautions on dried lily bulbs. They taste like turnips when cooked. 

One of my grandmas is from Guangdong province. So, for the Summer Dragon Boat Festival (Duānwǔ Jié 端午节) zongzi recipe, I added a vegan egg yolk filling because that’s what’s in zongzi there. I didn’t get to know her or where she was from until I started researching recipes for this website and reuniting with family members. 

Zongzi recipes are different from recipes for sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves (nuòmǐjī 糯米).

Save money and time: forage fresh bamboo leaves

Otherwise, you have to soak dried bamboo leaves. Bamboo can be an invasive weed.

Where to get more affordable, bulk ingredients

You might be able to get ingredients below more affordably and without plastic packaging from bulk bins at places below. Also, it’s legal to put unpackaged food in your own containers at food providers, such as stores, restaurants, farmer’s markets, and food trucks (at least in California and Maine).

Chinese tea or herb shops (like the ones at San Francisco’s Chinatown on Stockton between Broadway and Washington):
Materials

Kitchen string. Or cut thin strips from bamboo leaves.

Ingredients
  • 4 oz fresh or dried lily bulb (bǎihé 百合, lilium brownii). The most affordable, unsulfured, and organic retailer that I found is Clear Source.
  • 33 fresh or dried bamboo leaves with no tears. (I added extra because if you accidentally break one, you might need to use a new leaf.)
  • Vegan egg yolks
  • ½ cup dried mung beans
  • About 1 teaspoon kala namak salt, which is different from other black salts. It makes things taste like eggs. The most affordable and plastic-free brand that I could find is Vegetalia and the only retailer I found is Naturitas.
  • 16 fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms (xiānggū 香菇) 
  • 4 cups uncooked short grain sticky rice (also called glutinous rice or sweet rice)
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons oil safe for medium to high heat, such as untoasted sesame oil (which is rich in polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids)  

Instructions

About 3-6 hours before:
  1. In a pot that can fit about 11 cups water, boil bamboo leaves for 5 minutes with 1 tablespoon oil so rice doesn’t stick to bamboo leaves when you cook or eat zongzi. 
  2. Wash rice. Water plants with the rest of that water.
  3. Soak rice and dried bamboo leaves separately so that the water line is ½-inch above.
  4. Cover rice with a lid or plate and put in the refrigerator.
  5. Submerge bamboo leaves with a plate.   
  6. Cover mung beans with 2 inches of water.

About 3-6 hours later: 

Prepare mushrooms:
  1. If using fresh shiitake mushrooms. Save water by putting them in a bowl and adding water until the level is above those ingredients. Remove ingredients with your hand or ladle strainer. Remove mushroom stems.  Save that water to cook other ingredients below.
  2. If using dried shiitake mushrooms, soak in hot water for 10 minutes. Save that water to cook other ingredients below.
  3. Gently squeeze out water from the mushrooms. 

Prepare lily bulbs: 
  1. If using fresh lily bulb, tear into segments. Blanch in hot water. Remove ingredient. Save that water to cook other ingredients below.
  2. If using dried lily bulb, soak in hot water for 20 minutes. Remove ingredient. Save that water to cook other ingredients below.

Marinate shiitake mushrooms and lily bulbs in soy sauce, ginger and oil. Add more soy sauce as desired.

Prepare vegan egg yolks:
  1. Scoop out mung beans with a ladle strainer into a large pot that can hold about 11 cups of water that ideally has a clear lid. Water plants with the rest of that water.
  2. Add 3.5 cups of water you saved from soaking the mushrooms and lily bulbs. 
  3. Partially cover with lid and bring to a boil.
  4. Uncover and reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender, about 30 minutes.
  5. Scoop out mung beans with a ladle strainer into a bowl. Add kala lamak salt to taste. Mash with fork.
  6. Save water in pot. Cover with lid.
  7. Take the soaked rice out of the refrigerator. Water plants with the rest of that water.

Prepare bamboo leaves:
  1. Clean each bamboo leaf with a towel, shaking off excess water. 

Since it’s hard to explain how to wrap the zongzi via text or photos, watch this video. Here’s the gist:
  1. If you have leaves with rips, overlap them about 90% on top of the leaf with the least amount of rips.
  2. Cradle the cone you formed in your hand with the bamboo leaves.
  3. Put ¼ cup rice into the bottom of cone.
  4. Put 2-3 tablespoons mung bean mix on top.
  5. Put 2 shiitake mushrooms or pork belly on top.
  6. Put ¼ cup rice on top.
  7. Fold bamboo leaves.
  8. Seal with a thin strip of bamboo leaf or kitchen string. Don’t tie string too tight. That way, the rice can expand while it's boiled. 

Put all zongzi in the same large pot where you cooked the mung beans. If you need to add more water to the  mung bean water, fill until water is about 2-inches above the top of all zongzi. Add a tablespoon of salt to the water to preserve the flavor of the zongzi while it cooks.

Partially cover lid. Turn on medium to high heat. 
  1. Once the water boils, turn the heat to low/medium-low, and let it simmer for at least one hour. 
  2. Check every 5 minutes or so to make sure water is still above the zongzi. If there are large bubbles of water boiling, turn heat down. If not, add hot water.

Eat everything but the bamboo leaves.

Leftovers

If you have leftovers, refrigerate them in ideally a closed glass or metal container and eat leftovers in general ideally within three days. Re-boil for 15-20 minutes.

Or freeze them in a container. To reheat, first defrost the zongzi by taking it out of the freezer a few hours prior to cooking time. Re-boil for 15-20 minutes.

Updated August 21, 2026

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