Jiaozi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jiaozi

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese: 餃子
Simplified Chinese: 饺子
Japanese name
Kanji: 餃子
Kana: ギョーザ
Korean name
Hangul: 만두
Hanja: 饅頭
For other uses, see Jiaozi (disambiguation).

Jiaozi (Chinese transliteration) or gyōza (Japanese transliteration) and also known as mandu (Korean), is a Chinese dumpling, widely popular in China, Japan, and Korea as well as outside of East Asia, particularly in the United States.

The corresponding Chinese characters for "Jiaozi" is a reference to the arrival of the Chinese New Year at midnight[citation needed]. According to the Chinese calendar system, "Tiangan Dizhi" (Heavenly stems and Earthly branches) is used to designate the time in accordance to the Chinese zodiac. "Jiao" in Chinese means "join," while "zi" is a reference to the first and eleventh hour (branch) of Dizhi - where midnight is situated.

Jiaozi typically consist of a ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together or by crimping. Jiaozi should not be confused with wonton: jiaozi have a thicker chewier skin and a flatter, more oblate, double-saucer like shape (similar in shape to ravioli), and are usually eaten with a soy-vinegar dipping sauce (and/or hot chili sauce); while wontons have thinner skin, are sphere-shaped, and are usually served in broth. The dough for the jiaozi and wonton wrapper also consist of different ingredients.

Contents

[edit] Chinese version of the dumpling

A plate of boiled dumplings (shuijiao).
A plate of boiled dumplings (shuijiao).

Chinese dumplings (jiaozi) may be divided into various types depending on how they are cooked:

  • Boiled dumplings; (shuijiao) literally "water dumplings" (水餃; pinyin: shuǐjiǎo).
  • Steamed dumplings; (zhengjiao) literally "steam-dumpling" (蒸餃; pinyin: zhēngjiǎo).
  • Shallow fried dumplings (guotie) lit. "pan stick", known as "potstickers" in N. America, (鍋貼; pinyin: guōtiē), also referred to as "dry-fried dumplings" (煎餃; pinyin: jiānjiǎo).

Dumplings that use egg rather than dough to wrap the filling are called "egg dumplings" or (蛋餃; pinyin: dànjiǎo).

Common dumpling meat fillings include pork, mutton, beef, chicken, fish, and shrimp which are usually mixed with chopped vegetables. Popular vegetable fillings include cabbage, scallion (spring onions), leek, and Chinese chives. Dumplings are eaten with a soy sauce-based dipping sauce that may include vinegar, garlic, ginger, rice wine, hot sauce, and sesame oil.

Dumplings are one of the major foods eaten during the Chinese New Year, and year round in the northern provinces. Traditionally, families get together to make jiaozi for the Chinese New Year. In rural areas, the choicest livestock is slaughtered, the meat ground and wrapped into dumplings, and frozen outside with the help of the freezing weather. Then they are boiled and served for the Chinese New Year feast. Dumplings with sweet, rather than savoury fillings are also popular as a Chinese New Year treat.

A plate of fried dumplings (guotie), and dipping sauce.
A plate of fried dumplings (guotie), and dipping sauce.

Cantonese style Chinese dumplings (gaau) are standard fare in dim sum. These are different from jiaozi; they are smaller and wrapped in a thinner translucent skin, and usually steamed. Fillings include shrimp, scallop, chicken, tofu, mixed vegetables, and others. The most common type are shrimp dumplings, sometimes called as Haa Gaau ( 蝦餃; Cantonese Jyutping: haa1 gaau2 ). In contrast to jiaozi, which are easy to make at home, gaau are rarely home-made as they are more difficult to prepare. Many types of fillings exist, and dim sum restaurants often feature their own house specials or innovations. Dim sum chefs and artists often use ingredients in new or creative ways, or draw inspiration from other Chinese culinary traditions, such as Chiuchow, Hakka, or Shanghai. More daring chefs may even incorporate a fusion from other cultures, such as Japanese (teriyaki) or Southeast Asian (satay, curry), while upscale restaurants may use expensive or exotic ingredients such as lobster, shark fin and bird's nest. Another Cantonese dumpling is the jau gok.

Jiaozi were so named because they were horn shaped. The Chinese for "horn" is jiǎo (角), and jiaozi was originally written with the Chinese character for "horn", but later it was replaced by a specific character 餃, which has the food radical on the left and the phonetic component jiāo on the right. [1]

According to folk tales, jiaozi were invented by Zhang Zhongjing, one of the greatest practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine in history. They were originally called "娇耳"(Pinyin: jiao'er) because they were used to treat frostbitten ears.

[edit] Japanese version of the dumpling

The Japanese word gyōza (ギョーザ, ギョウザ) was derived from the reading of 餃子 (Jiǎozi in Mandarin Chinese) in the Shandong Chinese dialect (giaozi) and is written using the same Chinese characters.

The most prominent differences of Japanese-style gyōza from Chinese style jiaozi are the rich garlic flavor, which is less noticeable in the Chinese version, and the fact that Japanese-style gyōza are very lightly flavored with salt, soy, and that the Gyoza wrappers are much thinner than the Chinese counterpart. They are always served with soy-based dipping sauce (tare) seasoned with rice vinegar and/or rāyu (ラー油, known as làyóu (辣油) in China, red chili pepper-flavored sesame oil). The most common recipe found in Japan is a mixture of minced pork, garlic, cabbage, and nira (Chinese chives), and sesame oil, which is then wrapped into thinly-rolled dough skins.

Gyōza can be found in supermarkets and restaurants throughout Japan. Pan-fried gyōza are sold as a side dish in almost all ramen and Chinese restaurants in Japan.

The most popular preparation method is the pan-fried style called yaki-gyōza (焼き餃子) in Japan, in which the dumpling is first fried on one flat side, creating a crispy skin. Then, water is added and the pan sealed with a lid, until the upper part of the gyōza is steamed. Other popular methods include boiled sui-gyōza (水餃子) and deep fried age-gyōza (揚げ餃子).

They are best enjoyed while still steaming hot.

[edit] Korean version of the dumpling

The Korean name of the dish is mandu (만두), a cognate derived from Chinese steamed bread mantou (饅頭), but culinarily closer to jiaozi. Popular fillings for Korean dumplings include pork, beef, cabbage, squash, cellophane noodles and kimchi. They are often deep fried for a lighter, crispier texture. Steamed mandu is also very popular, and can come in various shapes: a "horn", crimped edges, a horn with the sides pressed together for a prettier, rounder look, etc. Generally mandu are dipped in soy sauce with vinegar and red pepper flakes.

[edit] Guotie

Making potstickers.
Making potstickers.

Guotie (simplified Chinese: 锅贴; traditional Chinese: 鍋貼; pinyin: guōtiē; literally "pot stick") is pan-fried jiaozi, also known as potstickers in North America. They are a Northern Chinese style dumpling popular as a street food, appetizer, or side order in Chinese, Japanese and Korean cuisines. This dish is sometimes served on a dim sum menu, but may be offered independently. The filling for this dish usually contains pork (sometimes chicken, or beef in Muslim areas), cabbage (or Chinese cabbage and sometimes spinach), scallions (spring or green onions), ginger, Chinese rice wine or cooking wine, and sesame seed oil.

The mixed filling is sealed into a dumpling wrapper, pan fried until golden brown, then steamed for a few minutes. If done correctly, they don't stick as much as their name suggests, if a non-stick frying pan is used, they do not stick at all.

An alternative method is to steam in a wok and then fry to crispness on one side in a shallow frying pan.

The guotie is similar to the Japanese yaki-gyōza (焼き餃子?).

Other names for guotie:

[edit] History

The guotie is said to date back to the Song Dynasty (960-1280 A.D.) in ancient China.

[edit] In Popular Culture

In North American hacker culture, this convenient food became popular as "ravs" (a contraction of the term "Peking Ravioli") or "pot-stickers". Gyoza are a popular dish served at the Wagamama restaurant chain in the United Kingdom. They some in Duck, Chicken, Ebi (Prawn) and Yasai (Vegetable). [3]

[edit] Endnotes

  1. ^ Norman, Jerry (1988) Chinese, Cambridge University Press, p76-77.
  2. ^ chinesefood.about.com
  3. ^ The Jargon File - Jargon File entry for "ravs"

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikibooks
Wikibooks' Cookbook has more about this subject:
Wikibooks
Wikibooks' Cookbook has more about this subject:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Japanese gyōza: