Vegetarian rice dumplings have proven especially popular in recent years. Edmond Tang / China Daily

Vegetarian rice dumpling in the making. Edmond Tang / China Daily

Cheung Cheuk-ming, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Chinese (dim sum) Sous Chef, wraps up a rice dumpling. Edmond Tang / China Daily

Traditional rice dumplings and their ingredients at Golden Bauhinia Cantonese Restaurant. Edmond Tang / China Daily

The time-intensive art of making healthier dumplings affords cross-generational as well as health benefits, as Phoebe Cheung discovers for herself.

Zongzi or rice dumpling is a traditional Chinese food prepared for the Dragon Boat Festival. Glutinous rice, green beans, fatty pork fat and egg yolk are wrapped in lotus leaves to prepare the festive treat in the traditional way. People love the dumplings - the creaminess of the glutinous rice, the aroma of egg yolk and greasy texture of the pork fat. Health-conscious eaters are saying no to traditional rice dumplings these days. The fillings are simply too heavy. Here are some healthier alternatives for the festival.

Being traditional equates with "high calories, high fat and low fiber" as described by Clara Pi Lee-ming, food services manager at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital.

"Green beans without shells, pork fat and salty egg yolk are used (when making traditional rice dumplings). So actually they are very high in cholesterol and fat because of the pork fat in them and also because oil is mixed in the rice as well before the wrapping up. So there is very little fiber in the rice dumpling," Pi says.

According to her, a 200-gram rice dumpling contains 450 to 600 calories, equivalent to the energy required per meal for an adult woman. She suggested using pumpkin as a substitute for egg yolk. Pork fat should be taken out and replaced with chicken, to reduce cholesterol. High-fibre rice like black glutinous rice and multigrain can be used to replace white glutinous rice, to aid digestion and provide more fiber.