• This joong or zongzi is not available in stores but something special one's mom or grandma makes out of a recipe handed down through generations. It's usually a tetrahedral shape and it takes a bit of skill wrapping so that the leaves are tight enough for keeping in the flavors in while allowing the boiling water to cook the rice mixture thoroughly. The sweet rice becomes soft and infused with rich flavors. This takes hours of gentle boiling.
• The bamboo wrapping leaves permeate the rice mix in a tasty way while keep the mix together during the boiling. Each family, especially the Taishanese, has special ways of preparing and seasoning this dish. To make joongs is "Gor Joong" in Taishanese.
• Mrs. Yee's joong has balance, delicious flavors, and a delicate texture of glutinous rice.

• Special ingredients in this joong are salted pork, sweet sausage, chestnut, beans, peanuts, a small piece of dried scallop, dried shrimp, and a small piece of salted duck egg yolk which infuse the sticky rice with special flavors.
• Mrs. Yee's joongs are perfectly balanced in that there are more ingredients in the center of the joong with mostly rice in the corners. She uses only 3 leaves and a thin string which wraps the package in a tight way for thorough cooking without loss of flavor.
• The joong is reheated by gentle boiling for 15 minutes and the string carefully removed along with the bamboo leaves. Never cut it with a knife but break it apart with chopsticks; it's like fracturing a chunk of parmesan cheese. Some add a tad of sugar or soy but I like it plain.
• Qu Yuan (wrongly accused of treason) and the Dragon Boat Festivals are related to the Joongs but we can eat joong all year round now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zongzi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu_Yuan