Vegan Joong Chinese Tamales Zongzi

Joong also known as Zongzi or Chinese tamales is a traditional meal eaten during the dragon boat festival. These are so delicious you don't have to wait for the dragon boat festival to enjoy these tasty sticky rice dumplings.

 This is one Cantonese dish I loved eating growing up. There are so many different types of things that can go inside Joong. I've had some with peanuts, fatty meat, Chinese mushrooms, Chinese sausage, salty egg and dried shrimp. For this recipe I will include a veganized version of the following:

1. Fatty Meat: Beyond Meat + Oil
2. Chinese Sausage: Beyond Sausage + Chinese Five Spice
3. Salty Egg: Chickpeas + No Egg Seasoning
4. Chinese Mushroom

Please feel free to add/remove things that you prefer inside your Joong. I also must admit that when we recorded the recipe for this a long time ago and I've since then made some changes to make the recipe even better! So please use the full recipe listed here and use the video as a guide/tutorial on how to put them together/wrap.

INGREDIENTS:

• 20 Bamboo leaves
• Cooking string
• 3 cups Sweet/Glutinous Rice
• 6 cups Water

Beef

• 2 Beyond Burger Patties (8 oz of Beyond Beef)
• 2 tsp Oil (we used Safflower)
• 2 tsp Tamari/Soy Sauce
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp White Pepper

Chinese Sausage

• 1 1/2 Beyond Sausage (cut into 12 pieces)
• 1/2 tsp Tamari/Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice
• 1 tsp Maple Syrup

Chinese Mushrooms

• 1 cup Dried/Fresh Chinese/Shiitake Mushrooms (hydrate with hot water)
• 2 cups Hot Water (for dried mushrooms)
• 3 tsp Tamari/Soy Sauce

Salty Egg

• 3/4 of 15 oz can of Chickpeas
• 1 tsp No Egg Seasoning
• 1 tsp Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Rinse rice and soak in water for 3 hours
• Wash and soak bamboo leaves
• If using dried mushrooms soak in hot water
• In a bowl add the Beyond meat and use a fork to smash into grounds
• Add tamari, oil, salt and white pepper and mix well
• Set aside to marinade
• Cut Beyond sausage into 12 pieces by cutting in half and then in half again longways. See diagram below:

• In small bowl add Chinese five spice, maple syrup, tamari and oil, mix well
• Put sausage on a plate and cover with five spice mixture, set aside to marinade
• In a bowl add the chickpeas, put in the microwave to warm up for about 60 sec
• Use a fork to smash add No Egg Seasoning and mix well, set aside
• Remove water from mushrooms once hydrated and remove stems
• Depending on the size of your mushrooms slice or cut in half, if small leave whole
• Add mushrooms to a bowl, pour tamari over, mix together and set aside to marinade
• Once rice is almost done soaking boil bamboo leaves
• Boil in large pan for about 5 min or until leaves turn dark green
• Remove bamboo leaves and place on a plate
• Drain the water from the rice
• Now it's time to put together the Joong
• Take 2 bamboo leaves and place them with the points facing each other and stack, see diagram below (watch YouTube video at top of the page for detailed tutorial):

• Fold in half and fold the very bottom to make a pocket (watch YouTube video for a detailed tutorial)
• Add thin layer of rice on the bottom
• Add strips of Beyond beef, sausage strip, some mushrooms and some chickpea egg
• Add another thin layer of rice on top to cover the stuffing
• Fold the leaves over and then wrap with string and tie closed
• Repeat until you make 10 joong
• In a large pot place all the joong and fill with water
• Bring to a boil and boil for 50 min
• Remove joong from pot and place on a plate
• Serve hot, these can also be frozen for later enjoyment or can be kept in the fridge and reheated in the microwave
• When reheating in microwave stand up in a bowl with some water and cook until hot

Enjoy!