The Chinese Dumpling Jiao Zi/Shui Jiao

Another day over again. It's amazing how time can actually fly, especially when happiness and joy is around. Previously people talk of one minute, now, it's more of a day thingy; today it's this case, and after today, the scenario may not be today's case anymore, not to mention next week's case. Confusing huh? Not at all; it's just life.

What i did today, is one question i normally ask myself before i doze off every night. And, believe it or not, although i aimed to do something better the next day, it's never the case and i would still feel i have wasted another day.

Well, today is a bit bit different (as you can see from the title), but before i proceed on, let me justify why the images are so much poorer this time. I know i shouldn't blame God's wonderful creation, the sun, but no matter how hard i look, it seems to be MIA almost the whole day today! Gone with the wind?? Doubt that, coz it was so windy that all the trees nearly went botak. The sky was dull and white greyish; simply the signs of winter.

Just in case you think i'm bluffing, here are two evidences: the first pic was snapped yesterday. Clear beautiful blue sky; LOVELY. (apart that my fave yellow tree is botak di :'-( ).

And, same second pic snapped today: Lacking blue sky huh?

Ya, so that was the reason. Now, back to why today is different, hehe, coz i assisted mom in law to make Jiao Zi! No cakes, no tarts, no baking business but Jiao Zi!!

Jiao Zi or Shui Jiao is a traditional Chinese food. According to my personal research, the Chinese characters for "Jiaozi" actually refer to the arrival of the Chinese New Year at midnight. "Jiao" means "join," while "zi" is a reference to the first and eleventh hour (branch) of Dizhi or midnight on the Western clock.

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

1. Boiled which we normally know as shui jiao or literally 'water dumplings'

2. Steamed; zheng jiao (steam-dumpling)

3. Shallow fried; guotie (dry fried) or what we refer as 'wo tie'

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.

Despite that CNY is two months away, here's our version for today's lunch:

Kneaded dough from scratch; just mix flour with water until firm dough is formed.

Fillings include minced pork, spring onion, egg, white cabbage and scallops (seasoned with salt, soy sauce etc).

Wrapped Jiao Zis ready to be boiled. It's important that each jiao zi be wrapped securely, or otherwise the skin may break during boiling. The jiao zis will float on top when cooked.

Before i had the opportunity to snap a good pic of the freshly cooked Jiao Zi, the camera battery went dead. Only managed to do so afterwards, in the early evening when it was about to be dark, and hence this poorest quality.