Little puffs of pork with chopped vegetables wrapped in thin pastry, sealed boiled, dipped in soy sauce and enjoyed by the masses at Chinese New Year, it can only be the one, the only, it’s the JiaoZi (饺子).
I’ve been feeling peckish all Sunday evening, I guess my appetite is getting bigger these days and all I’ve been able to think about is jiaozi. So here’s my view on the dumpling. For our friends over in the states, jiaozi are probably known to you as pot stickers.
Jiaozi can be eaten all year round, but are also a holiday dish eaten on Chinese New Year’s Eve (CNY). The jiaozi actually look like golden ingots yuan bao, and so eating them at CNY is supposed to give you good luck and good fortune for the year to come. In some households they put a clean coin in one of the jiaozi for extra luck to the finder. It’s funny when you find similarities between Chinese and Western culture. It doesn’t seem too far off from the coin hidden in the Christmas pudding.
Jiaozi can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as a side or a main. When I first went to China for CNY I couldn’t belive the amount of jiaozi that was cooked… and that we ate! Although these little dumplings are a tasty treat, after CNY I was pretty jiaozi’erd out! But nevertheless, a tradition is a tradition and I can’t wait for CNY 2011 where I’m sure jiaozi will be back on the menu. 
Why not pick up a cookery book and try it yourself. Learn the secrets to Chinese cooking: Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories: 15 Secrets from a 3,000-Year-Old Food Culture
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