Jiaozi

I took the Blakes over for a jiaozi dinner in the park—not my favorite place although the jiaozis were much better than the food we had before.

It was especially good that night—with wonderful fish, steamed pike, fish dumplings (rather like hot gefilte fish), a whole braised duck, the crab-filled jiaozis I love so much, and more beer and wine than I’ve consumed in months.

Jiaozi are eaten all year long and at any time of day—breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Her favorite were dumplings. One Chinese New Year, her mom cooked us so many dumplings, I stopped eating them for almost a year. I craved those little jiaozis. Even one bite now, and I would have traded away my birthright.

In comparison, jiaozi fillings are much more diverse than those used for wontons. They could be any kind of meat, as well as many varieties of vegetables to make vegetarian jiaozi. And jiaozi are usually larger than wontons.