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Lisa Cam

Tuen Ng Festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, is one of the biggest annual celebrations in Hong Kong. It takes place on May 31 this year.
As well as dragon boat races, sticky rice dumplings, or zongzi, are a big feature of the festival.
Sticky rice dumplings can be sweet or savoury and sprinkled with sugar or dipped in soy sauce. But either way, they are traditionally steamed.
We asked chefs in Hong Kong, and one in Macau, for creative suggestions for other ways to prepare them.

Jayson Tang of one-Michelin-star Man Ho Chinese Restaurant in Hong Kong’s Admiralty neighbourhood suggests deep-frying or air-frying meat and salted egg yolk sticky rice dumplings, then drizzling them with golden syrup.
“Deep-frying is another traditional way of [cooking] rice dumplings,” Tang says. “Golden syrup will add a nice contrast like sugar does, but with an added hint of caramel or toffee.”
Other chefs suggest pairing rice dumplings with XO sauce.
Lam Yuk-ming, executive chef of Spring Moon – the one-Michelin-star restaurant at The Peninsula Hong Kong hotel that is said to be where XO sauce was invented – recommends first pan-frying the dumplings to achieve a crispy texture.

“This cooking method enhances the flavour, creating a delightful contrast between the crunchy exterior and the soft, savoury, or sweet filling inside,” he says.
“For optimal results, dip the sliced rice dumplings in an egg batter before frying. This helps them achieve a golden brown colour and a satisfying crunch. Drizzle XO chilli sauce over the dumplings just before they finish cooking for a fragrant touch, or serve the sauce as a dip,” he adds.
Eric Ting, chief operating officer of Jiangsu Club in Sheung Wan, says XO sauce works well with rice dumplings “because the sauce’s bold umami flavour, derived from roughly chopped dried seafood like scallops, fish and shrimp, enhances the dumplings’ subtle, earthy taste”.
“The addition of chilli peppers, onions, and garlic in the sauce complements the chewy texture of the dumplings, creating a satisfying contrast,” he adds.
Jack Chan, executive chef of Celestial Court in Tsim Sha Tsui, says “pan-frying the dumplings in the egg wash adds a silky texture that creates a complexity when sampling them with XO sauce”.

Chef Wong Chi-fai of three-Michelin-star T’ang Court in Tsim Sha Tsui suggests alternative ways of frying the dumplings.
“For plain dumplings, chop them into pieces and coat them with some potato starch, then deep-fry them. This goes well with XO sauce,” he says. Condiments such as fish sauce, soy sauce or even pork floss also make good accompaniments to dumplings deep-fried or pan-fried in egg wash, he adds.
Chef Tam Kwok-fung of two-Michelin-star Chef Tam’s Seasons in Macau recommends using glutinous rice dumplings to create a treat similar to cheong fun rice noodle rolls, a Hong Kong street snack.


“After pan-frying pieces of rice dumpling in egg wash, you can mix them with sweet soy sauce, hoisin sauce, peanut sauce and chilli sauce,” he says.
Tam also suggests coating dumpling wedges in five-spice powder before deep-frying them and then dipping them soy sauce or chilli oil. “This was a street food sold in the 60s,” he adds.
When it comes to sweet sticky rice dumplings, some chefs draw inspiration from the sugar, sesame, ground peanut and desiccated coconut filling of Chinese sweet fried pancakes.
“Open up some sweet Chinese pancakes with the desiccated coconut, ground peanut and sugar fillings,” Chan of Celestial Court says. “Then wrap the flat pancakes around pieces of rice dumpling and pan-fry them.
“The caramelisation of the rice pancake plus the contrast of the nutty, sweet filling will provide a nice contrast in texture and flavour.”

Li Yuet-faat, executive chef of Ming Court in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok neighbourhood, recommends cutting the glutinous rice dumplings into bite-sized pieces and covering them with a thick layer of the sweet pancake filling.
“This creates a flavour similar to the glutinous rice ball treat you see at yum cha (the Cantonese custom of eating dim sum and drinking tea),” he says, adding that a drizzle of longan honey on top adds a bit of smokiness to the sweet dumpling.
Lam of Spring Moon makes a similar recommendation. “For a refreshing and chewy twist, cold rice dumplings can be cut into bite-sized pieces and dipped in sugar, honey, or coconut flakes. These toppings enhance their natural sweetness and add an extra layer of flavour,” he says.

Tam of Chef Tam’s Seasons in Macau has another suggestion which is inspired by the ingenuity of previous generations.
“Before refrigeration, people would sun-dry leftover sweet sticky rice dumplings and rehydrate them when making red bean sweet soup to add extra texture to the dessert,” he says.
“They can be eaten like glutinous rice balls that we are now used to. We don’t need to dehydrate the seasonal treats to store them any more, but we can still cut them into smaller pieces and add to sweet soups.”


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Hong Kong chefs share creative ways to cook sticky rice dumplings for Dragon Boat Festival

Sticky rice dumplings are a Dragon Boat Festival staple that are usually cooked by steaming. Creative Hong Kong chefs share tips on how to prepare them differently. Photo: Spring Moon

Jayson Tang, executive chef of Man Ho Chinese Restaurant in JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, suggests drizzling deep-fried or air-fried sticky rice dumplings in golden syrup. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Lam Yuk-ming, executive chef of Spring Moon at The Peninsula Hong Kong hotel. Photo: Spring Moon

Jack Chan, executive chef of Celestial Court in Tsim Sha Tsui suggests pan-frying sticky rice dumplings in egg wash and enjoying them with XO sauce. Photo: Celestial Court

Tam Kwok-fung, executive chef of Michelin-star Macau restaurant Chef Tam’s Seasons. Photo: Chef Tam’s Seasons

Cheong fun rice noodle rolls are a street food widely enjoyed in Hong Kong. Photo: Instagram/faiz227

Li Yuet-faat, executive chef of Ming Court, suggests cutting sticky rice dumplings into bite-sized pieces and covering them with a thick layer of sweet fried Chinese pancake filling. Photo: May Tse

Chef Li Yuet-faat says longan honey goes well with sweet sticky rice dumplings. Photo: Ming Court

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Food & Drink

Drizzled in honey, fried with a fish sauce dip. Hong Kong chefs share inventive ways to serve Dragon Boat Festival snack we usually steam


Drizzled in honey, fried with a fish sauce dip. Hong Kong chefs share inventive ways to serve Dragon Boat Festival snack we usually steam.


Hong Kong chefs

Dragon Boat Festival

Chinese culture

Hong Kong culture

Hong Kong chefs share creative ways to cook sticky rice dumplings for Dragon Boat Festival

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Drizzled in honey, fried with a fish sauce dip. Hong Kong chefs share inventive ways to serve Dragon Boat Festival snack we usually steam

Drizzled in honey, fried with a fish sauce dip. Hong Kong chefs share inventive ways to serve Dragon Boat Festival snack we usually steam