It looks troublesome,but actually it is very simple to make Jiaozi.Only flour,meat,vegetable and various spices are needed to prepare.For minced meat,you can choose pork,beef and lamb,as well as fish,shrimp,and so on.More choices for vegetable are available,such as Chinese cabbage,celery,leek,fennel,green pepper,pumpkin and tomato to meet your personal preferences.As the saying goes: “Soft dough for Jiaozi and hard dough for noodles”,the dough for making Jiaozi should be kneaded and rolled repeatedly,so that the perfect Jiaozi with big stuffing and thin skin can be made.To mix Jiaozi stuffing,you should first mix minced meat with the spices,and preferably add a raw egg,so that the stuffing is “fat but not greasy,thin but not bony”,and then add vegetables,and finally salt.In this way,the oil can wrap the water,so that the stuffing can lose less water.Jiaozi contains staple food,meat and vegetables,in line with the requirements of nutritional balance.
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| No Food Is Better Than Jiaozi |
In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220),Zhang Zhongjing (150-219) who had just resigned from his official post,was on his way back home.He saw ordinary folks suffering hunger and cold and their ears were frostbitten,so he had someone boil a big pot of soup with mutton and a number of Chinese herbal medicines for dispelling cold and emitting heat.He then removed and minced the mutton and the herbs,inserted them in wrapping and boiled them again.As they were shaped like ears and for the purpose of treating frostbitten ears,Zhang Zhongjing called it “Jiao ear”.As this “Jiao ear soup for dispelling cold” had a good effect,the folks ate it from the Winter Solstice until New Year’s Eve,and their frostbitten ears healed.“Jiao ear” is today’s Jiaozi.After Zhang Zhongjing passed away,people made Jiaozi on the Winter Solstice to commemorate him and in the belief they would not have frostbitten ears in winter after eating Jiaozi at the Winter Solstice.There is still a saying in the southwest region of Shandong: “If you don’t eat Jiaozi at the Winter Solstice,no one will show mercy to you for your frostbitten ears”.
Jiaozi has a long history,and there is inevitably something special about the process of making,arranging,boiling and eating.
On Chinese New Year,a piece of clean coin is usually put into one of the Jiaozi,and the one who eats the Jiaozi containing the coin is believed to have good luck.Jiaozi can be diversified in shape; some are shaped like a gold ingot,and some are shaped like the ear of wheat,symbolizing wealth and good harvest.In some places,there is a saying to the effect that the one who can make beautiful Jiaozi will have a beautiful boyfriend or girlfriend in the future,so young people take learning the skill very seriously.
There is also something special about arranging Jiaozi.As the saying goes: “No matter how busy you are,don’t arrange Jiaozi in a mess”,meaning that you may arrange Jiaozi in any way you like at ordinary times,but that’s not the case at New Year.Ways of arranging vary in different places,some arrange them into a circle from inside to outside,which is called “Quanfu” (meaning circling happiness or blessings),but some places place a taboo on arranging in this way,in the belief it indicates the onset of a worse and worse life,and they prefer arranging transversely,which indicates profits pouring in from all sides.
If Jiaozi is boiled until it is broken,we will not say “Po” or “Lan” in Chinese,but say “Zheng” (meaning “earning”).There is a story that a rich man hired a chef to make Jiaozi; the chef was surnamed Pei,having the same pronunciation with “losing” as in “losing money” in Chinese.When the chef was boiling Jiaozi,the rich man asked him: “Zheng or not?” Unexpectedly,the chef pledged: “As long as I am here,it is impossible to Zheng!” Originally,the rich man wanted to ask for blessing words,as there was food in Jiaozi,meaning “There is money” in Chinese,“Zheng” meant “earn money” in Chinese.So the chef’s answer upset him,but he could not complain about anything,because the chef was just boasting his skill.
There is also something special about eating Jiaozi.In some places,it is a must to eat an even number during the Chinese New Year,as eating odd number indicates something ominous will happen In some places,during a wedding,the mother-in-law will present the bride with Jiaozi,and then ask: “Raw or not?” The bride should answer: “Raw!” If an honest bride answers: “Not raw,not raw at all”,her mother-in-law will be upset.Why? That’s because “raw” and “give birth to” are homonyms in Chinese.Chinese people attach great importance to a flourishing population,and the mother-in-law is just asking for blessing words.
There used to be a saying: “Every family eats Jiaozi on Chinese New Year”,meaning that no matter how poor a family was,this would be part of the holiday menu,indicating that Jiaozi is a Chinese New Year food and poor families cannot afford to eating it at ordinary times.Nowadays,everyone can eat it whenever they want.There are a variety of frozen Jiaozi in supermarkets,and the taste has become ever closer to the taste of those made at home.However,if they are available,people are still willing to buy meat and vegetables to take back home,and make Jiaozi together with their family members or friends while chatting.At this time,what they focus on is a spiritual enjoyment of affection and friendship,rather than what to eat.
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