Thursday, January 26, 2017

Dumplings!

A big part of celebrating Chinese New year is making, and eating, dumplings! Called 'jiǎozi' in Mandarin, they are shaped like a gold ingot (the currency used in ancient times), symbolizing luck and fortune.


There are many varieties of dumplings, and they can vary based on the region of China, but they all include some kind of filling wrapped in dough. The tricky part, at least for the foreigners, is folding them! There are many different ways, but in the end as long as the filling doesn’t fall out when it's cooked you can declare it a success!





The nannies, staff, and foster parents come ready to fold hundreds of dumplings  and the children watch carefully as they learn the fine art of dumpling making.



We thought you might like a recipe to try making your own dumplings for Chinese New Year! This was a little tricky, as Chinese rarely measure anything while cooking and instead throw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but we hope you enjoy these!

Pork Dumplings
1 pound ground pork
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetables, minced (carrot, cabbage, or cucumber are great choices!)
1 T finely minced ginger
6 stalks green onions, minced
3 T soy sauce
2 T sesame oil
2T chicken stock
Salt

Mix all ingredients together. Our cook says to mix hard!

Add about a tablespoon of filling to pre-made dumpling or wanton wrappers. Make sure all the edges are sealed.

Place dumplings in boiling water. Cook until they float to the top.


Enjoy!

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