Dumpling Festival - the tale behind it.

The rice dumpling custom can be traced back to the Warring States Period of the third century B.C. According to legend, Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet and a state minister, drowned himself in the river to protest the king's refusal to institute reforms.

It is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (May 28 in 2009) to honour scholar-poet, Qu Yuan who took his life by jumping into a river. He did so because he was greatly saddened when the king refused to take his advice, leading to a war. The king eventually got himself trapped and captured in a foreign land by his enemies, which then lead to his own death.

Fearing that fish would eat Qu’s body, then, his friends and supporters made dumplings and threw them into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of the body.

Do you think the reason is acceptable or logical?

For years i am doubtful about this reason but since i have a blog now, i wish to put forth my reason.

Do fish eat rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves - or even without the bamboo leaves i am doubtful that those sticky rice would lure them to eat. If it says that the throwing of the rice dumpling (perhaps at that time, some people were selling dumplings by the side of the river)would scare the fish away, then this is more logical. Even any heavy objects like stones, rocks, mud-balls would do the same. Splashing their paddles on water surfaces may have the same effect too.

However there exists many versions. But whichever version you choose to believe, it seems the death of Qu Yuan also gave rise to dragon boat races in some countries like in Hong Kong and at the same time celebrating the day with dumplings made with glutinous rice (zong zi) that are stuffed in bamboo leaves.

Happy Dumpling Day!

Quick Meal - Weekend Dishes

Two common quick dishes that i cooked recently.



A typical dish of fried rice. The latter is made out of the left-over rice the previous night. Of course, you can also cook fresh rice too but preferable let it cool over few hours prior to cooking. Common ingredients used are prawns, eggs, pieces of "char-siew", fried fragrant garlic, long beans, light soy sauce and pieces of fried salted fish (optional).Garnish with spring onions.



Another quick dish is using canned sardines with spaghetti. Other ingredients that are normally used are cucumber, onions and pineapples (the latter 3 are thinly sliced), fresh chili and some vinegar to make it slightly sourish. The latter can be substituted with tamarind. As this was a last minute decision, most of these ingredients mentioned were not available, instead i added in fresh prawns and some mint leaves. And this last minute lunch turned out to be tasty and appetizing too.

It's good to have home-grown mint leaves in your garden. Look at this plant that i have grown many moons ago. Easy to grow and little maintenance. Just some water and some sunlight and not forgetting some organic fertilizers too.

Celebrating Mother's Day

Mother's Day is celebrated to honour all mothers and express gratitude for the hardships they bear in bringing up a child. Most countries including US, Australia, UK and Malaysia celebrate Mothers Day on the second Sunday of May. It's a also a time of commemoration and celebration for Mom.

Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Wesak Day

Celebrated on the full moon of the month of May by Buddhists which marks three momentous events in Buddha's life - his birthday, enlightenment, and achievement of Nirvana. The celebration begins at dawn when devotees gathering at the temples to meditate on the Eight Precepts.

The celebration includes making special efforts to bring happiness to the unfortunate like the aged, the handicapped and the sick. To this day, Buddhists will distribute gifts in cash and kind to various charitable homes throughout the country. Wesak is also a time for great joy and happiness, expressed not by pandering to one’s appetites but by concentrating on useful activities such as decorating and illuminating temples, painting and creating exquisite scenes from the life of the Buddha for public dissemination. Devout Buddhists also vie with one another to provide refreshments and vegetarian food to followers who visit the temple to pay homage to the Enlightened One.

Happy Wesak Day!