Chinese Dumplings 餃子

You see these photos? I had to snatch these bowls from 4 hungry people, not including myself, to take them. It was a dangerous thing to do 拿走這兩碗餃子拍照片好危險!, so appreciate this post. The 1st photo is of dumplings boiled in water, so they are called 水餃 shui jiao. The 2nd photo is of fried dumplings called 鍋貼 or guo tie. They both have the same filling.

Calling this food ‘dumplings’ in English is doing them a disservice. When I think of dumplings I think of those lumpy, dumpy East or Central European things 東歐洲的餃子差一點 I used to eat when I couldn’t get some of their fine sausage. Chinese dumplings, most common in Northern cuisine, are an entirely different breed. They come in many different many different shapes, sizes, flavors and skins. It's best when the skins are made fresh daily. One of my favorites are those with real crab filling and a light, thin skin 螃蟹餃最好吃. Wontons or 餛飩 literally “swallowing clouds” in Chinese are also quite good. With such a good culinary tradition it is understandable that people can quite passionate about dumplings.