Voices
Capital of dumplings wraps it up
By Steve Hubrecht (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-23 08:08
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The simplest food is often the best. Across Asia, the humble dumpling does its best to prove this is true.
From manti in Central Asia and momos in Nepal to mandu in South Korea, it seems every culture on the continent has a time-honored tradition of wrapping bits of meat or vegetables, or both, inside a layer of flour and then steaming, boiling, frying or otherwise heating the edible packet to perfection.
China, with its jiaozi, is certainly no exception. In fact, Beijing may be the culinary peak of dumplings in Asia. Literally hundreds, and possibly even thousands, of jiaozi shops dot the capital's streets. Some are nothing more than temporary stands - a few bamboo steamers over a boiler and few stools around a makeshift table on the sidewalk. There, a few yuan will buy enough dumplings to feed a small army.
A few are almost over-the-top fancy, in what seems a comical attempt to elevate dumpling to haute cuisine, and make eyeballs bulge in disbelief when the bill comes. Most jiaozi shops, thankfully, fall on the simpler side.
At some dumpling restaurants there are a few tasty options - pork or beef with bits of shredded cabbage or green onion. But at most shops the array of fillings is considerably larger, if not downright mind-boggling. Virtually any kind of vegetable or any kind of meat you can name (and perhaps some you can't) can be stuffed inside jiaozi, it seems.
But the simplicity or sophistication of a dumpling restaurant and the length of its menu often have little bearing on the quality of the jiaozi it serves up. Some of the most delectable dumplings come from the ordinary, no-pretense shops and the biggest, swankiest places can have horrendous fare. The only way to know for sure which shops sell the best is to step in, sit down and dig in.
Whether they are good or bad, plain or stuffed with all kinds of unlikely vegetables, almost all dumplings in Beijing are accompanied by a bowl of soy sauce that may include vinegar, garlic or chilies. This sauce is as indispensable to eating jiaozi as cranberry sauce and stuffing and is to a Thanksgiving meal in North America.
The precise way of preparing jiaozi and the preferred ingredients in them vary across China from region to region and even from village to village and family to family. One of the advantages of eating dumplings in Beijing is the sheer variety available. The multitude of migrants who stream into city from across the country means there are restaurants of almost every regional variety of Chinese cuisine in the capital and, correspondingly, the opportunity to taste jiaozi made in all sorts of different, delicious ways.
Dumplings are good for breakfast, lunch, dinner or anytime in between. They work well as a starter or a side dish, but a whole plateful (or two or three) makes a fine main course. No matter what time of day, you prefer to eat or what ingredients you like in them, there's no doubt jiaozi are among the best bites in Beijing.
