Jiaozi! Jiaozi! Jiaozi!
A selection of jiaozi laid out in the shape of the Chinese characters for “Winter Solstice”. Photo: CFP
It's time to eat jiaozi! This Chinese dumpling consists of minced meat and vegetables all wrapped inside a round, thin skin of dough. As the Winter Solstice (December 22) is approaching, jiaozi will be one of the most popular foods on this day. For 1,800 years it has been a tradition, especially for those who live in northern China, to eat jiaozi at the night of Winter Solstice as well as on Chinese New Year's Eve.
Horny meal
Jiaozi is allegedly named because of its resemblance to a horn - jiao in Chinese. But another explanation relates the name derives from another folk tale source: jiaozi used to be called "jiao'er," or "tender ears," because originally the dish was used to treat frostbitten ears.
According to these tales, jiaozi was invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a renowned Chinese traditional medicine doctor during the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). It is said that on the Winter Solstice, the then retired doctor found many people's ears had become frostbitten in the freezing weather. To find a cure, the doctor cooked up mutton together with some warm herbs, chopped the mixture into pieces and then wrapped them into a small pieces of dough, in order that the medicine wouldn't taste so bitter.
Zhang named the dumpling jiao'er, and each patient was given two jiao'er and some soup every day from the time of the Winter Solstice to New Year's Eve. It's reported that many people were cured this way. To honor Zhang Zhongjing, people still eat these at Winter Solstice and during the Chinese New Year.
Also, having jiaozi at these festivals is believed to bring prosperity, as they look like yuanbao or the gold ingots that was the circulating currency during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Families in the northern part of China will even hide a clean coin in one or two jiaozi. It is said that people who eat that dumpling with the coin in will have good luck in the coming year.
As well as on special festivals, jiaozi is a popular food eaten all year around in China, as either a main meal or a side dish. It is regarded as both delicious and healthy by most Chinese. Containing dough (carbohydrate) vegetables and meat (protein) it is regarded as an ideal part of a balanced diet. Popular mixtures of fillings are pork with cabbage, pork with celery and pork with chives and scrambled eggs. Jiaozi can be boiled, steamed, or fried. In northern cities, they are often eaten with a sauce of vinegar, while in the western part of the country a spicy sauce is commonly used.
The Global Times sought out some shops that provide different flavors of jiaozi for you to enjoy in midwinter.
Traditional Chinese boiled jiaozi
In the shop named Harbin-Flavor Snack, you can enjoy typical boiled jiaozi from the northeastern China. The shop's owner and chef are both from Harbin. "The jiaozi we sell here is the same as we make at home in Harbin," said the shop owner, surnamed Chen, who has been selling boiled jiaozi for 12 years in Shanghai.
They offer three kinds of boiled dumplings - pork with cabbage; pork with celery; and pork with pickle. They can sell around 30 kilograms of dumplings every day, and on Winter Solstice, the sales increases to 50 kilograms.
Add: 499 Zhengli Road, Yangpu district 杨浦区政立路499号
Tel: 6082-3828
Price: 10 yuan for 20 jiaozi
Chinese sour soup jiaozi
With a sour and spicy taste, this soup can stimulate your appetite and warm you up in the cold weather. This jiaozi is commonly seen in Shanxi Province. And there, the soup is as important as the dumplings. "After drinking the soup, we can eat more jiaozi," said Xing Zhongdong, the manager of a shop selling typical Shanxi foods.
According to Xing, the soup is cow bone soup with vinegar, chilli oil, chive, parsley, as well as dried small shrimps added.
They provide jiaozi with five different fillings to choose from: beef with chive; mushroom with dried shrimps; mutton with radish; pork with cabbage; and pork with celery. On Winter Solstice and the Chinese New Year, they can sell up 300 dishes with 12 in each dish.
Add: 231 Rushan Road, Pudong New Area 浦东新区乳山路231号
Tel: 6875-8268
Price: 18 yuan for 12 jiaozi and a bowl of soup
South Korean jiaozi
The jiaozi on sale in Zhangshang Hanpin, which sells South Korean food, is fried dumplings, filled with smashed bean noodles and chive. The golden fried skin tastes crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The fillings taste sweet and sour. South Korean jiaozi differ from the Chinese version because of its rectangular shape, according to Fan Yicheng, co-owner of the restaurant. It is because the wrapper is square while that of the Chinese jiaozi is round. "So it's easier to make South Korean jiaozi," Fan said.
Add: 335 Tianmu Road Middle, Zhabei district 闸北区天目中路335号
Tel: 6167-3327
Price: 13 yuan for five jiaozi
The Japanese style jiaozi differs from Chinese style dumplings because of its rich garlic flavor and its thinner wrappers. The most popular Japanese jiaozi are pan-fried. First the dumplings are steamed, and then they are fried in oil to make its skin crispy.
You can get these dumplings at Niao'an, a Japanese food store. The fillings are pork with cabbage.
Add: 172 Huichuan Road, Changning district 长宁区汇川路172号
Tel: 5241-1677
Price: 15 yuan for six jiaozi
Newspaper headline: Jiaozi! Jiaozi! Jiaozi!