Chinese Dumplings， from North to South
(通行南北的饺子)
Every Saturday, I join a group of friends in a decades-old ritual—a dim-sum lunch that includes a plethora of small Cantonese dishes of dumplings, buns, meat balls, pastries, crepe rolls, and fritters. Dim sum (点心) is literally “touch the heart”, but this lunch—reminiscent of our years in Hong Kong where we grew up—always turns into a fulfilling feast. The dumplings on a dim-sum menu are typically xiajiao (虾饺, shrimp dumplings), shaomai (烧卖, pork dumplings, also shumai), and yujiao (芋角, taro dumplings), among others. But these are not the only dumplings that Chinese Americans, let alone Chinese, eat. Chinese people consume dozens of different types of dumplings. Over millennia of dumplings history, they have evolved into many shapes, sizes, and textures, and are filled with ingredients that are limited only by one’s imagination. They can be prepared in different ways—boiled in water or broth, steamed, baked, deep-fried, or pan-fried. Moreover, different parts of China have their own signature dumplings. Distinct from buns, which are made with leavened dough, dumplings are made with unleavened dough and are smaller in size than buns. The following is a representative sample of Chinese people’s favorite dumplings—from north to south.
Shuijiao (水饺, boiled dumplings) are filled with ingredients of one’s choice, cooked in water, and served with a dipping sauce without a broth. Some of the most popular fillings include ground pork, lamb, or beef; shrimp, and vegetables, together with seasonings such as soy sauce, sesame seed oil, green onion, and ginger. These dumplings are a staple food in a wide swath of northern China, from the northwest province of Xinjiang (新疆) to the northeast province of Heilongjiang (黑龙江). Shuijiao are especially popular during Chinese New Year, when the whole family often join in to prepare them, with some rolling out the wrappers, some mixing the ingredients and wrapping them into crescent shapes, while others boiling them in water.
Guotie (锅贴, aka pot-stickers) can be prepared by simply pan-frying shuijiao. Another way to prepare guotie is to roll a wrapper around the filling in an elongated shape, while leaving the two ends open. Either way, guotie and shuijiao basically share the same ingredients and the same type of wrapper.
Danjiao (蛋饺, egg dumplings) look like Chinese gold ingots (元宝), have a savory meat-filling wrapped in an omelet wrapper, and are then pan-fried. Symbolic of good fortune, this dish is often consumed during Chinese New Year. Egg dumplings are often served in soup (first photo below) or hot-pot (火锅). They are also a key ingredient in the Cantonese pencai (盆菜, also poon choi), a popular Chinese New Year dish. A hodgepodge dish, pencai consists of a variety of selected vegetables, braised meats, and seafood, layered in a large bowl to symbolize the “harmony of flavors” (second photo below).
Xiaolongbao (小笼包) refer to a type of small buns often associated with the city of Shanghai. Their savory filling is made of ground pork, beef, or lamb; ginger, and green onion, and are traditionally steamed and served in a xiaolong (小笼), a small bamboo steaming basket. Closely resembling xiaolongbao is tangbao (汤包, soup dumplings). With filling made of ground meat and meat jelly (皮冻), this dumpling’s inside melts into soup when steamed. Soup dumplings have to be eaten in a single bite to avoid spilling the soup.
Huntun (馄饨, aka Wonton, 云吞 in Cantonese) are often consumed with soup or with soup noodles. Huntun resemble shuijiao but are usually made with square, thinner wrappers instead of shuijiao’s round, thicker ones. Huntun are traditionally served in soup, while shuijiao are usually eaten with a dipping sauce. Different parts of China serve different types of huntun. For example, Cantonese wontons use a shrimp filling while most others regions use a ground-pork filling. The Cantonese wontons are the most popular type outside of China due to the dominance of Cantonese cuisine overseas, especially in Southeast Asia.
Xiajiao (虾饺, shrimp dumplings)—a traditional Cantonese dumpling that is popular in a dim sum menu—are made from shrimp and pork fat and steamed in a wrapper. The wrapper, made from gluten-free wheat flour and a small amount of corn starch, becomes translucent after steaming.
Shaomai (烧卖) are made by wrapping a savory filling in thin wrappers with an open top (first photo below). The shaomai are then steamed in a bamboo steaming basket. In most parts of China, the filling is made of glutinous rice (糯米) and minced pork belly. The most well-known shaomai outside of China is the Cantonese variety, which is made of a dense mix of minced pork, shiitake mushroom, and bamboo shoot, resulting in a meaty shaomai, (second photo below).
Yujiao (芋角, taro dumplings) is a standard Cantonese dim-sum dish. Its outer shell is a thick layer of taro paste. The savory filling is made from seasoned minced pork, shiitake mushroom, and other ingredients. When the dumpling is deep fried, the outer layer puffs up and becomes crispy and fluffy, filling a bite with the exquisite aroma of taro.
Similar to empanada, Yiujiao (油角, deep-fried dumpling) is a Chinese New Year food in southern China. The varieties of sweet fillings include chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, or adzuki-bean paste (红豆沙). Wrapped in a puff-pastry shell, they are then deep-fried or baked until golden brown.
Dumplings are considered comfort food for many Chinese people, who often associate dumplings with weekend family meals and festivals, especially Chinese New Year. Thus eating dumplings can evoke feelings of nostalgia and warmth, reminiscent of childhood and happy times.
Photo credit: Baidu.com