Directions

1. Soak the glutinous rice and dried shiitake mushrooms in separate bowls with hot water (50°C  / 122°F) for 1 hour.
   
2. Cut the beef into bite-size pieces and place it into a big mixing bowl. Add grated garlic, grated ginger, fermented bean curd, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, black pepper, five-spice powder, Sichuan Peppercorn powder, chili flake, and brown sugar. Mix well. Let it marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
   
3. During this time, prepare the bamboo leaves. If using dried bamboo leaves, add them to a big pot filled with water and bring to a boil. Then turn off the heat and let the leaves soak in the hot water while you are working on other ingredients. If using fresh bamboo leaves, rinse them under running water and then cover them with a damp towel to prevent drying out until ready to use.
   
4. By now, the glutinous rice should be done soaking, check the consistency by crushing the grains in between your fingers. If it is crushable, you are good to go. Drain the rice completely.
   
5. Turn the heat to medium and preheat the wok until hot. Add a few tablespoons of cooking oil, some diced shallots and minced scallions. Stir over low heat for a few minutes or until they are golden brown. This will create a beautiful aroma for the zongzi.
   
6. Add the soaked and well-drained glutinous rice and 4 tsps of dark soy sauce to give the rice that desired color. Stir over medium heat for a few minutes or until the grains becomes slightly sticky, so it will be much easier to shape and wrap later.
   
7. Set the rice aside and by now, the mushrooms should be done soaking. Take them out of the water and squeeze well.
   
8. Add the mushrooms to the beef and stir so they can absorb some flavors. By the way, the mushrooms I used are very small. If yours are big, you may need to cut them.
   
9. Wrapping the zongzi is probably the most challenging part of this recipe. The first thing you need to do is to distinguish the rough and smooth sides of the bamboo leaves. The rough side has a convex stem; it should be facing out when wrapping. The smooth side is non-stick so it should be in contact with the glutinous rice.
   
10. Each zongzi needs two pieces of bamboo leaves. Partially stack them together with the smooth side facing up. The pointy tips should be in the middle. Flip the leaves at 1/3 of the length and fold the sides at 1.4 of the width. Open it up, and you will have a triangular pocket. Use one of your hand to hold and keep the shape. The other hand can scoop a few spoons of glutinous rice and spread it out inside the bamboo leaves. Add 2 pieces of mushrooms, one piece of salted egg yolk, and one piece of marinaded beef. Cover everything with another layer of glutinous. Pack it tight and make it smooth.
    
11. Fold the upper leaves down and stay there with some force to establish the shape. The hand at the bottom should squeeze the zong zi. Use the hand on the top to carefully fold the edge done. Do the same thing to the other side. Once done, pinch the end of the leaves and fold it along the shape of the zongzi. Use your thumb to hold it in place. There you have it and now you can tie it with kitchen twine. This shape of zongzi is much longer than the zongzi that I made before, but it does holds a lot of the ingredients, so you do need to tie it with a few circles.
    
12. The next step is to cook the Zongzi. Bring a big pot of water to a boil and drop in your zongzi. Wait for the water to come back to a boil. Press them down with a plate and make sure the water is enough to immerse everything. Partially cover the lid to prevent it from overflowing. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 2.5 hours.
    
13. Once done, take the zongzi and enjoy! You can freeze them for up to 6 months. Whenever you want to eat the zongzi, no need to defrost, just steam them over high heat for 20 minutes or microwave them. For your reference, 1 frozen zongzi will take about 2-3 minutes to microwave on full power.