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Dumpling, or Jiaozi in Chinese, is one of the most representative Chinese food. The food can be dated back two thousands years ago. It is quite popular in China, and also loved by most of foreign tourists. The most famous restaurant serving dumping in Xian is called Defachang.
Jiaozi in Defachang is quite famous. It has many special dishes, but the dearest is jiaozi made of Shark’s fin. Another kind of jiaozi is as big as a small fingertip and it is filled with chicken meat. It is called a pearl jiaozi. When boiling this kind of jiaozi, it is put into a hotpot of chrysanthemum soup. And there is a story about this. When Empress Dowager Ci Xi came to the city she asked her cook to provide her with a new taste, and the cook prepared this kind of jiaozi to please her. She liked very much. She ate three, six or nine in number, which is regarded in China as meaning good luck. Today, the words are different, for having one jiaozi, means to go off smoothly, and two jiaozi for double happiness coming at the same time. When having jiaozi, you can listen to the story and receive a beautiful blessing.
Xian, an ancient city that has been the nation's capital during no less than eleven dynasties spanning more than a thousand years is regarded as the home if not the birthplace of the great dumpling tradition. It was here that the art of creating the most tasty and delicate of dumplings was refined. It is said that to visit Xian without seeing the fantastic Terracotta Army as well as having a Dumpling Dinner means that you have not really been to Xian at all!
The histor of dumpling:
A well-loved story tells how long ago during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) a doctor named Zhang Zhongjing travelled back to his hometown in the county of Nanyang. He found the people were suffering from an outbreak of typhoid and dying from hunger and cold. In fact the weather was so cold that many had frostbitten ears to add to their troubles. The kindly doctor set about concocting a mixture of mutton, cayenne and a special medicine that he wrapped in a piece of ear-shaped dough. The dumplings he created were fed to the starving people and by New Year's Eve, not only were they saved from the typhoid epidemic but also their frost bitten ears were healed. The doctor's fame became legendary and thus the dumpling became a favourite addition to the Chinese diet.
This is an experience for the dumpling connoisseur, the flavours, shapes and colours will tempt the palette, while the elegant names and stories attached to each variety are truly amazing. It is no less amazing that a simple way of preparing food has become so very popular and sophisticated that it is now considered to be as much a work of art as a tasty morsel.
They add much more tastes such as sour, sweet, peppery, hemp, etc. As for the style, they creat various pretty and lovely styles such as flower, bird, grass, fish and so on.
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| Cabbage steamed dumpling | Hedgepig steamed dumpling |
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| Palace cap steamed dumpling | Walnut steamed dumpling |
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| Lotus pool and autumn scenery dumpling | Tiger husk steamed dumpling |
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| Peanut steamed dumpling | Shan’xi general dumpling |
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| Fence and chickling dumpling | Shrimp kernel steamed dumpling |
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| Trunk steamed dumpling | Sesame duck dumpling |