Chinese Food

The jiaozi 饺子 is a common Chinese dumpling which generally consists of minced meat and finely chopped vegetables wrapped into a thin and elastic piece of dough skin. Popular meat fillings include ground pork, ground beef, ground chicken, shrimp, and even fish. Popular mixtures include pork with Chinese cabbage, pork with garlic chives, pork and shrimp with veggies, pork with spring onion, garlic chives with scrambled eggs. Filling mixtures vary depending on personal tastes and region. Jiaozi are usually boiled or steamed. Jiaozi is a traditional dish eaten on Chinese New Year's Eve, the 5th day of Chinese New Year, and special family reunions. Extended family members gather together to make dumplings. It is also eaten for farewell to family members or friends. In North China, dumplings are eaten with a dipping sauce made of vinegar and chilli oil or paste, and occasionally with some soy sauce added in.

If dumplings are laid flatly on a pan, first steamed with lid on with a thin layer of water, then fried in oil after the water has been evaporated, they are called guotie 锅贴 or potstickers after their crispy skin on the bottom.

Wontons wonton 云吞 are another kind of dumplings. They are typically boiled in a light broth or soup and made with a meatier filling. The skin wrapping for wontons is different -- thinner and less elastic -- than that used for jiaozi^{[citation needed]}. Wontons are more popular in Southern China (Shanghai, Guangdong, Hong Kong etc.) whereas in Northern China, people usually have jiaozi. Jiaozi, wonton and potstickers are all wrapped differently.

Another type of Chinese dumpling is made with glutinous rice. Usually, the glutinous rice dumplings 粽子 zongzi are triangle or cone shaped, can be filled with red bean paste, Chinese dates or cured meat depending on region. Glutinous rice dumplings are traditionally eaten during the Duanwu Festival.

Chinese cuisine includes sweet dumplings. Tangyuan are smaller dumplings made with glutinous rice flour and filled with sweet sesame, peanut, red bean paste. Tangyuan may also be served without a filling. Tangyuan are eaten on the 15th day of Chinese New Year, or the Lantern Festival. There are also other kinds of dumplings such as har kao, siew mai, small cage-steamed bun (xiaolongbao), pork bun and crystal dumpling.