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Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, fish, tofu, cheese, vegetables, fruits or sweets. Dumplings may be prepared using a variety of methods, including baking, boiling, frying, simmering or steaming and are found in many world cuisines. In May 2015, the Registrar at National Day Calendar® proclaimed that National Dumpling Day to be held on September 26th, annually.

East Asian[edit]

Chinese[edit]

There is no unifying word for dumplings in Chinese. What are described as dumplings in English (e.g. the jiǎozi, the wonton, and the many steamed dumplings) are considered distinct from each other.

Jiaozi[edit]

The jiǎozi (餃子) is a common Chinese dumpling, which generally consists of minced meat and finely chopped vegetables wrapped into a piece of dough skin. The shape is likened to that of a human ear. In China dumplings usually refers to boiled dumplings. The skin can be either thin and elastic or thicker. There is even a statement that the skin of a dumpling determines the quality of the dumpling. Popular meat fillings include ground meat (usually pork, but can instead be beef or chicken), shrimp, and even fish. Popular mixtures include pork with Chinese cabbage, pork with garlic chives, pork and shrimp with vegetables, pork with spring onion, garlic chives with scrambled eggs. Filling mixtures will vary depending on personal tastes, region and season. According to region and season, ingredients can include oyster. Dumplings are usually boiled, steamed or fried and continue to be a traditional dish. Some people will place a coin or candy inside the dumpling in the hope of obtaining a fortune or having a sweet life, on Chinese New Year's Eve and special family reunions. Particularly, in Northern China, people generally eat dumplings on the winter solstice in the hope of a warm winter. Extended family members may gather together to make dumplings, and it is also eaten at farewells to family members or friends. In Northern China, dumplings are commonly eaten with a dipping sauce made of vinegar and chilli oil or paste, and occasionally with some soy sauce added in. However, baozi is not a type of jiaozi.

Dumplings appear on the tables of Chinese families at different times of the year. In ancient times, dumplings were not very common and were treated as a luxurious food for the common people. Thus, they only appear during some memorial dates as a form of celebration. On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, dumplings are usually served at the stroke of midnight after a big dinner. The name Jiaozi sounds similar to an old saying in Chinese which means “stepping into a new era” and thus carries the meaning when people eat them at the moment of New Year. The remaining dumplings are stored in the fridge and reboiled or fried for breakfast.

Another time when Chinese people eat dumplings is the 5th day after the Chinese New Year in the lunar calendar. Since there are many forbidden things to do in between the 5 days according to Chinese traditions, people eat dumplings on the 5th day, which is the end of the New Year period, to celebrate getting out of the forbidden traditions.

On the first day of the hottest days of summer, dumplings mark the beginning of the harvest. During this time is when harvesting season just begins, thus people’s storage is filled with harvested wheat. Thus, people make wheat into doughs and dumplings to celebrate harvesting.

According to the legends, Jiaozi was invented in Eastern Han Dynasty between 150-219 CE by Zhang Zhongjing, who was a popular Chinese medicine practitioner. When Zhang returned to his hometown during a harsh winter, he saw many poor people suffering from frostbite in their ears due to the bad governing of the emperor. Using his knowledge of Chinese herbs and medicine, he mixed Chinese medicinal herbs he collected over the years which heat up bodies with lamb and chili in doughs, fold them into the shape of ears, put them in boiling water, and gave them to the poor people. After eating the wrapped dough with herbs and drinking the soup, people’s frostbite heals quickly. In memory of his help to many people, eating dumplings became a tradition during the winter for Chinese people.

Legend has that Zhang Zhongjing lived in the Eastern Han Dynasty between 150-219 CE. It is speculated that when Zhang returned to his hometown in the winter of a certain year, he found that many people had frostbite in their ears. He decided to wrap lamb, chili and some warm herbs in dough. He folded them into the shape of ears, boiled them in water, and distributed them to the poor.

Written records show that jiaozi became popular during the Southern and Northern dynasties (420–589 CE) in China, the earliest unearthed real jiaozi were found in Astana Cemetery dated between 499 CE and 640 CE.

Zongzi wrapped in a bamboo leaf (right) and ready to eat (left)

Wonton[edit]

The wonton (Cantonese name) or hún dun in Mandarin (雲呑/餛飩) is another kind of dumpling. The shape is similar to Italian tortellino. It is typically boiled in a light broth or soup and made with a meat or shrimp 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, jiaozi are more popular. Jiaozi, wonton and potstickers are each wrapped differently.

Baozi

Baozi are a range of Chinese yeast-leavened buns with fillings inside of them. Baozi can be either salty or sweet depending on what the inside fillings. Famous types of Baozi include Cha Sui Bao, Shui Jian Bao and many other. The filled Baozi was invented by Zhuge Liang, who made baozi and offer to a Chinese God for good luck of military operations, based on legends.

Tangbao

Tangbao are Chinese dumplings that have soup in them, the most famous of these is the xiaolongbao (小籠包) from the Jiangnan region.

Other Chinese dumplings[edit]

Steamed har gow (shrimp dumplings) served in dim sum

Another type of Chinese dumpling is made with glutinous rice. Usually, the glutinous rice dumplings, zongzi (粽子), 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 also include sweet dumplings. Tangyuan (湯圓) 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. In Southern China, people will also eat the sweet dumplings (tangyuan) with shape angle on the top, in the Winter Solstice meaning the harvest in the coming year.

See also: dim sum (點心) for descriptions of several other kinds of dumplings such as har gow, fun guo, siew mai, Cha siu bao, lo mai gai and crystal dumplings.