Guilin Bean Zongzi

Guilin Bean Zongzi is a representative of savory flavors, with local soybeans or mung beans as the main filling, paired with glutinous rice and cured meat, full of home-cooked taste. To make it, soybeans are soaked and boiled in advance, or mung beans are peeled and made into paste, mixed with glutinous rice and diced cured meat, seasoned with salt and a little five-spice powder. Wrapped in bamboo leaves into a cylindrical shape, tied tightly, and boiled for 3 hours, it allows the beans' softness, rice's stickiness, and cured meat's oil aroma to fully blend. When cut open, the zongzi has distinct soybean grains or smooth mung bean paste distributed in the rice; cured meat's oil makes the whole zongzi shiny and tempting, with moderate saltiness and rich texture. Bean zongzi is very common in Guilin—seen at breakfast or festivals, especially loved by the elderly for its satiety and simple taste. Foreigners will enjoy the graininess of beans, finding it chewier than plain glutinous rice zongzi, and cured meat's saltiness adds layers, a dish that shows Guilin people's daily culinary wisdom.