Zongzi: Cantonese Joong and Hakka Ban Zong

This is a live, interactive, hands-on cooking class held online via Zoom. See our event policies at the bottom of this webpage.

Let’s make zong and celebrate! The Duanwu Jie is on June 14th this year, coinciding with the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. You may know this time as the Dragon Boat Festival. There are lots of stories regarding the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, all encompassing spirits good and bad, love, death, suicide, beauty and even poetry. The most symbolic food during this festival is the triangular, pyramid shaped rice dumplings. Today, we will make two southern Chinese versions of the dumplings, one Cantonese and one Hakka.

MENU

Cantonese Zongzi / Joong 粽子 

Hakka Banzong / Kueh Zhang 客家粄粽

Equipment and Ingredient List for the class found here; check before buying a ticket.

This menu contains the following common allergens: Shellfish, Egg, Soy. If you have allergies or dietary restrictions that concern your ability to cook along, please e-mail info@18reasons.org before purchasing a ticket.

If you’re new to 18 Reasons Online, please read this guide: How to Take an Online Class at 18 Reasons. Five calendar days before class, 18 Reasons may decide to cancel this class if not enough tickets are sold. We will notify registrants by email about cancellations.

Linda Tay Esposito is a teaching chef whose food represents a tribute and commitment to the authenticity of the cuisines of the Pacific Rim. For the last 15 years, Linda has shared her passion and knowledge of East & South East Asian cuisines through Bay Area cooking schools - Cavallo Point, Sur La Table, Parties That Cook and Whole Foods Market. Linda’s teaching philosophy is to make these cuisines approachable to the home cook, while respecting the cuisine’s heritage and authenticity in taste. Besides 18 Reasons, Linda also shares her Nyonya food passion with Milk Street Kitchen and leads a community culinary program on Asian vegetables for Radical Family Farms.

An all-around food professional, Linda’s consulting work centers around helping food businesses flourish through the intersectional lens of food, sustainability and equity. Her past experience includes growing Hodo Foods from an artisanal producer to nationwide distribution, and building inclusive food places. Most recently she led the development of La Cocina Municipal Marketplace – using food as a creative approach to economic development by offering affordable, healthy food options and safe spaces while providing accessible business opportunities for low income, immigrant, women food entrepreneurs. Linda is a member of the Good Food Foundation advisory board and serves on their Equity Task Force. Linda lives in San Francisco. In her free time, she plants Asian herbs at the community garden at Fort Mason. Follow her on Instagram @flavor_explosions

_{Photo by Linda Tay Esposito}