Food is an important part of our NSC events. Last month, we had the annual Thank You picnic and an abundance of food. Coming up July 18-19, there is the Mountain View Obon and its delicious foods: tempura, manju, udon, and more! Next month on August 22, there is the BAC fundraiser, pre-game BBQ, and Dennis Heffley’s famous chocolate chip cookies.
Speaking of food, the Dragon Boat Festival is one of my favorite Chinese food holidays. Did you notice that the Live Love Survive Dragon Boat team is open to all interested paddlers?
The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated with zongzi (sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves) and of course, dragon boat racing. The origin of the festival is attributed to the great Chinese poet Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC), who drowned himself to protest government corruption. The local people raced out in their boats to retrieve Qu Yuan’s body and zongzi was thrown into the river so the fish would eat the zongzi and not Qu Yuan’s body.
The festival is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. The lunar calendar is based on a 28 day month. It does not match the Western calendar and lunar dates fall on a different date each year. Before the days of the internet and its instant information, I used to page through the special calendar with Chinese dates to find the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. Nowadays, I just search for “Dragon Boat Festival 2015” and the answer is June 20, 2015!
Western calendar with Chinese dates
Zongzi
Zongzi are sticky rice packets with delicious fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. Fillings will vary from region to region. My favorite fillings are the ones that my mom put in her packets, which included dried shrimp, peanuts, chestnut, salted egg, lop cheung (aka Chinese sausage), fatty pork, and ham. Below is a picture of her beautifully wrapped zongzi.
Making zongzi is time consuming and requires lots of preparation. However, the results are worthwhile and delicious.
So, where am I going with this? Everybody likes good food and NSC events always have good food. So, attend an upcoming NSC event and enjoy the food.
