Due to the vastness of China, people's taste also varies. Comparatively speaking, Northerners like sweet rice dumplings that come in two kinds. One is entirely made of white sticky rice and is dipped in white sugar before eating. The other kind has red dates stuffed in the center of the white sticky rice. Referred to as small red date rice dumplings, these have to be chilled and when it comes to the time of eating, you can savour a nice, cool sensation.

By far, Guangdong rice dumplings have the most ingredients and are larger in size. The wrapping process is also the most time consuming. There are two types of Guangdong rice dumplings - salty ones and sweet ones. The salty rice dumplings are filled with ham, marinated meat, egg yolk, roast chicken, barbecue pork, roast duck, chestnut, mushroom and small shrimp. The sweet ones are stuffed with lotus paste, mashed green beans and red beans, chestnut paste, date paste and walnut.

Taiwan rice dumplings are differentiated by regions - the northern ones and the southern ones. For the northern ones, the sticky rice grain is first fried with scallions, marinade, salt and pepper. Then they are stuffed with fried pork, dried bean curd, bamboo shoot, marinated egg, mushroom, dried shrimp and dried radish, and then steamed to cook without being too oily. As for the southern ones, the sticky rice grain is slightly fried with peanuts, and the ingredients of the stuffing include pork, scallion, chestnut, dried bean curd and taro. After being wrapped, they are also steamed to cook and then seasoned to eat.

While rice dumplings are appetizing, do not eat too much. It is best to have some fruit or vegetable soup to go along with them. With your well-being in mind, Lee Kum Kee has designed a variety of healthy recipes for this year's Dragon Boat Festival. For details, browse through our page of Recipes for Dragon Boat Festival.