Whether you are using pressure cooker or boiling on the stove, soak millet and glutinous rice together for at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain off the water after that. Combine and mix the two grains together evenly
Things to prepare:
Soak the bamboo leaves in water and then discard the water and wipe the leaves dry with clean cloth the next day when you are ready to use them
If you are making savory multigrain zongzi:
After soaking the grains, drain all water. Preheat a large wok or skillet. Add cooking oil. Stir fry garlic until really fragrant. Add the soaked graines followed by all the seasonings. Stir fry the grain until they pick up all the seasonings. Remove from the heat and let them cool down before using it to wrap
If you are making zongzi with sweet filling:
Portion out the filling. I used red bean paste and I use about 40 grams of filling per dumpling. You can go straight to wrapping
Wrapping:
Get the grains and the filling. You will need about 2 leaves, stacking on top of each other. If you have ragged leaves, you can use another leaf to cover by overlapping them so there won't be any leakage. Make sure the smooth side of the leaves are facing you
Fold into a cone shape. Fill it up with about 2 Tbsp of grains and use the back of the spoon to pack it in and slightly create an indentation in the middle for the filling.Then add the filling. Top again with more grains, filling up almost 3/4 of the cone. Make sure you really pack it down so the dumpling will be nice and tight later
Fold one side down. Fold the opposite site down. Most people don't fold the two sides and go straight to folding the top part down (as shown in the next step). But I feel like this helps me to wrap "neater" and shows the triangle shape better
Fold the top part down. Fold in both sides. You'll have this extra piece on top now. Simply fold it down to either one of the side
Tie with a string. Repeat with the rest of the filling and grains
Cooking with Instant Pot pressure cooker:
Fill up the inner pot halfway with water. Press saute and bring water to a boil. For savory zongzi, add 1/2 tsp of salt. Place the zongzi in the inner pot of instant pot. I can cook 12-14 dumplings in my 6-quart instant pot. Top up with more water to make sure it covers the zongzi if necessary
Cover the lid. Turn the steam release valve to seal. Press "pressure cooker" and make sure it's on "high pressure". Set the timer to 50 minutes. Release pressure immediately after that
Carefully open the lid and use a tong to gently remove the zongzi from the pot to a cooling rack. Let the water drips down. The zongzi will still be soft to touch. I recommend waiting 24 hours before eating them
Boiling on the stove:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. For savory zongzi, add 1/2 tsp of salt. Place the zongzi in a large pot. Bring it back to a boil and then cover and lower the heat to let it gently boil for the next 2 to 2 1/2 hours. If your zongzi is large in size you may need 3 hours or so. At the end of cooking time, you can take one out to see if it's cooked through. If the rice doesn't stick to the leaves and doesn't fall apart and the rice holds together nicely. It's done. If the rice falls apart, you need to boil them longer
Carefully use a tong to gently remove the zongzi from the pot to a cooling rack to let it cool down for 24 hours before eating them. They will still be soft to touch, but will firm up once they are cooled down completely
How to store and reheat:
If you have leftovers, you can freeze the zongzi in the freezer and it's good for 6 months. When ready to eat them, you don't thaw them. They can go straight from the freezer to the steamer with boiling water and steam for about 10 minutes on high heat or until heated through or you can reheat them in a microwave on high on 1 minute increment until heated through