Treats fit for a dragon (2)

People also hang mugwort leaves at their door, and wear fragrant herb sachets for luck.

In northern China, jujube and mashed red bean are the most popular stuffings for the rice dumplings. But in South China, people also use pork, ham and salted egg yolk.

A typical pork-stuffed zongzi is available at Din Tai Fung. Founded in Taiwan in 1958, the restaurant has since offered Huzhou-style dumplings from East China's Zhejiang province.

This zongzi is known for the softness of its rice and the good flavor of its stuffing. Other options offered are mashed red bean stuffing and a creative mix of purple rice and purple sweet potato stuffing.

"We choose side pork containing a medium amount of fat, so that it will not taste too dry or greasy," says Zhan Zhiming, Din Tai Fung's dim sum chef in Beijing. Using Taiwan soy sauce to marinate the pork gives it the ideal fragrance and flavor.

Din Tai Fung's zongzi are boiled for one to two hours, then kept in a closed boiler overnight, so that they become very soft but keep a good shape. The rice in the zongzi absorbs the juice and flavor of the pork.

The mashed red bean zongzi employs another secret: a little pork fat for flavor and aroma.

The third stuffing's ingredients, purple rice and sweet potato, have anthocyanin, which is anti-aging. It also helps to reduce inflammation, has anti-carcinogenic properties and contains minerals, according to Zhan. The purple rice is soaked overnight because it has a coarse texture. Then additional round-shaped glutinous rice is added to increase the stickiness.

The restaurant offers a popular zongzi package of six dumplings that costs 148 yuan ($24).

Many of Beijing's five-star hotels offer a mixture of traditional and innovative versions of zongzi. Sofitel Wanda Beijing, for example, provides zongzi packages in elegant boxes. There are traditional red jujube and mashed bean fillings, along with fresh pork and egg yolk, and five-spice beef stuffing.

Creative combinations include milk and eggs, and shiitake mushrooms with chestnuts. Healthier ones are pearl barley with nuts, five cereals, and alkali with mashed red bean stuffing.

Rice in the dumplings is supplemented with yellow rice, taro and "eight treasures", referring to a mixture of healthy seeds and fruits, such as red jujubes, lotus seeds, pearl barley and wolfberries.

Da Dong restaurant makes a zongzi-shaped morsel, but with Iberian ham as wrapping and glutinous rice inside. Owner Dong Zhenxiang says the dish combines Chinese and Spanish ingredients, and the concept of Japanese sushi.

Even Starbucks has made zongzi products in China - small gems with transparent skins made of tapioca, and stuffing flavors such as macchiato, Earl Grey and strawberry with milk.

Han, meanwhile, is trying to teach her daughter to make zongzi by hand, which she believes will always taste better than those made with machines.

"Traditional food preparation should be passed down," she says.

IF YOU GO

Din Tai Fung

LG2, Park View Green, 9 Dongdaqiao Lu (Road), Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-8562-6583

Sofitel Wanda Beijing

Tower C, Wanda Plaza, 93 Jianguo Lu (Road), Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-8599-6666.