6.26.2008

learning to bao Jiaozi 饺子

What a special treat: a friend of ours offered to teach us how to make Jiaozi from scratch! Jiaozi are basically Chinese dumplings or Pot-Stickers, sorta pronounced JOW-ZUH. You can steam them or fry them - with so many options of goodies to put inside. Many are filled with meat & different veggies. Here is the recipe of the ones we made. We spent an entire morning preparing the stuffing, and then we wrapped (bāo = 包) about 200 individual Jiaozi by hand. I was not quick to learn the special pleating technique - but it was really fun. In the end, the ones I wrapped were just as tasty as the ones my friend made. Now I want to try it again on my own, and experiment with the stuffing flavors. We also made enough to take home & freeze....but honestly, they didn't last long! The kids loved them too!

Movie star eating Jiaozi