Sarah DiGregorio at Fork in the Road tells us about a woman at the northeast corner of Mott Street and Hester Street in Chinatown who presides over a small stack of boxes containing joong, bamboo-leaf-wrapped parcels of sticky rice with goodies inside such as pork belly, mung bean, and peanut. I have enjoyed these for many years, and have seen them referred to as lotus leaves on some Chinese menus. One of my favorite ingredients in lotus leaves is Chinese sausage. There are also sweet, dessert versions of joong. The joongs from this street vendor are $1.50 each. Joongs are most traditionally eaten as part of the Spring Dragon Boat Festival, but they’re available all year long, and freeze well after being cooked. They’re perfect cold weather food–steamy, dense, and glossy with melted pork fat. [Fork in the Road]
