Looking for zongzi - dragon boat festival/duanwujie is tomorrow!

[mookleknuck]

I know that Heung Fa Chun Sweet House on 10th St. (Arch) has two kinds of zongzi which are pretty good, but does anyone get them from any where else? I'm looking for the savory kind with pork, xianggu, salted duck egg yolk...

[barryg]

A few of the grocery stores on the Cambodian strip of S. 7th St (below Snyder Ave) sell these filled with yellow bean, egg yolk (I think) and pork. I think they all come from the same maker and are delivered to the stores. Very good.

[mookleknuck]

Thanks, barryg. Do you know if other styles are sold there or elsewhere?

[barryg]

They also have sweet ones, filled with banana I think and another variety I can't remember. I like the savory ones better. Some of the stores also sell a very good baozi, filled with ground pork, egg, and black pepper. Heng Seng restaurant definitely sells all of these things at the counter, as do many of the groceries.

I dont know that any of this is better than what you can get in Chinatown but they are good--with the caveat that I'm pretty sure my Chinese street food experience is much less extensive than yours.

If you go down that way, I really like the Hu Tieu Nam Vang at Heng Seng, especially ordered dry as they give you a piece of pork shank in the both. There used to be a good pho and bun bo hue place too, Cafe Chau, but I read online that it closed--I haven't checked myself.

Just a warning, all of the stores in S. 7th close by 7pm and the area gets very sketchy after dark, and seems to have gotten worse lately.

[mookleknuck]

Thanks, barryg. I'll be sure to try out your recommendations; I'm still new enough to the area that it seems like there are chow opportunities every where. If only I had the time!

[mookleknuck]

Reporting back: Bought several freshly made Hong Kong-style zongzi for two dollars apiece from Heung Fa Chun on Saturday morning. Good size with fatty and lean pork, one salted duck egg yolk, and quite a bit of dry yellow (mung?) beans. The rice was well-flavored by the bamboo. I think their Taiwanese-style zongzi are better. You can find their three different zongzi in plastic crates on the wooden shelf on your right as you enter.

Soy milk was not burned this time either! Also, fyi: zongzi are bamboo-leaf--wrapped glutinous rice tamales(?) that often have savory (as mentioned above) or sweet fillings, dependent upon regional style.