The Dragon Boat Festival is still more than a month away, but some people in central Taiwan are already making rice dumplings which are associated with the holiday. This year, they’ve even added a tangy new ingredient into the filling.
This year, the Dragon Boat Festival falls on June 14, but farmers’ associations in Yunlin County are already making rice dumplings, the signature food that is consumed on the holiday.
Rice dumplings are made of glutinous rice stuffed with savory fillings and then wrapped in bamboo leaves before being steamed or boiled. Fillings can include peanuts, pork, mushrooms, taro, and chestnuts. But this year, the cooks are being adventurous and adding pineapples to the mix. That’s because China has banned the imports of Taiwanese pineapples, and people across Taiwan are rallying to support pineapple farmers.
The farmers’ associations say they did not serve rice dumplings last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, they will make an extra 10,000 rice dumplings, and they estimate that they will sell about 100,000 in total.