I often think that pearl milk tea is evolved from dumplings. One used a spoon, the other used a thick straw, and the thick straw made the dumplings an everyday occurrence. Since then, the little ball of glutinous rice has been a constant companion to the tongue. The prevalence of Soup dumplings is a victory for the Chinese. While most of the desserts in the Food world boast of milk and sugar, soup dumplings, a simple sweet treat with glutinous rice and a small amount of soup as the main ingredients, have become a breath of fresh air with their light and sweet taste.
Because it is easy to make and delicious, the soup dumpling is widely spread, and it is a must for the Shang Yuan, Winter Solstice, Spring Festival, and the 15th day of the first month, and is one of the most seasonal festival foods. From mainland China to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, from Japan, Korea, Ryukyu to Southeast Asia, and even Australia, soup dumplings are all over the world and witness the reunion there.
In Wu language, it is called “dumplings” or “dumplings”, in Minnan language it is called “dumplings”, in Min language it is called “dumplings” in Xinghua language, and in Eastern Min language it is called “dumplings” in Matsu language. “In Minanese Xinghua, it is called “dumpling”, in Minto Matsu, in Minto Fuzhou, it is called “yuanxianwan”, in Hakka, it is called “shyuan” It is also called “Xie Yuan”, “Xue Yuan”, and “Yuan Yuan”.
Most of the soup dumplings are made of glutinous rice, although they look similar, but they are very different, filled with sesame seeds, date paste, five nuts, sugar, dried fruit and other sweet, in short, the moon cake has, it also has; fresh meat, vegetable meat, egg yolk and other salty, in short, the dumplings have, it must also have; there are also small and no filling, called “small dumplings”, the most knowledgeable in Wu.
In the Jiangnan region, Ningbo’s soup dumplings are particularly famous, not only because of Cai Lan’s description, but also because of the practice here. Ningbo people use the hanging technique, which is to grind glutinous rice into water-ground flour, and then fill it with black sesame seeds, lard and sugar. Nowadays, the famous Ningbo soup dumplings are Shanghai Chenghuangmiao and “Tank Duck Dog”. The icon of “jar duck dog” is a dog and a duck stepping on an earthen jar, which is very vivid. The “jar dog” soup dumpling store is located in Ningbo Kaiming Street, once the New Year, the door is full. However, local families in Shanghai suburbs and counties still follow the old method of making four flavors of vegetable meat, black puff pastry, dates and bean paste, which are round, round and long, pointed at one end and pointed at both ends; in Jiaxing and other places, the white and unfilled wine stuffed dumplings are the most popular at the beginning of spring, and the soup is sweet and slightly drunk, making people salivate.
Sichuan people also have the habit of eating dumplings. The status of soup dumplings is second only to tofu and fish, especially on the first and fifteenth days of the Lunar New Year, the project of sitting together to eat soup dumplings is a must for the Family. Sichuan soup dumplings are divided into sweet and savory, savory filling mostly made of minced meat and Yibin sprouts; sweet is brown sugar, brown sugar, with peanuts, walnuts, sesame and other dried goods, rose or the addition of Luo Shen Aoi, is a classic, it adds a touch of elegance to the sweet Sichuan soup dumplings, eaten after the mouth can be described as fragrant.
The Fuzhou dumplings are also known as rice patties, which is pronounced as sì in Fuzhou, the same as the Fuzhou word for “Time“, so folk created another word for it. Fuzhou dumplings are also known as “dialong thin”, which means “to roll”, to describe the shape and to signify the rolling of wealth. The mochi is made by rolling semi-wet glutinous rice flour between the dumplings and the dumplings. The rice patties are not filled and are served covered with bean flour, black sesame seeds, sugar or peanut flour. On the morning of the winter solstice, the cooked dumplings are first placed with the lucky oranges with leaves for the ancestors and then eaten by the whole family for breakfast.
Soup dumplings are available very early in Hong Kong and become an everyday drink after autumn. In fact, many dessert stores and sweet water stores in Hong Kong serve dumplings all year round. The traditional fillings are mainly ground peanuts, sesame seed paste and red bean paste, and the sweet soup is made with brown sugar and ginger, so it is suitable for both young and old. As drinking dumplings is a daily practice, there are also many new ways to serve dumplings in Hong Kong, including fillings of purple potatoes, green tea, pumpkin, milk yolk and other ingredients; the outer skin is dyed in different colors by the soup of vegetables and fruits, or the dumplings are made into different shapes, and some stores will sprinkle chocolate powder and crumbs on the dumplings when they are served. These practices also seem to continue the vitality of dumplings in a sense.
In the Three Gorges District of New Taipei City, Taiwan, there is a Three Gorges Changfu Rock, whose full name is the Three Gorges Changfu Rock Ancestor Temple. Every year, on the sixth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, which is also the ancestor’s Christmas Day, the Three Gorges Ancestor Temple holds a grand divine pig festival competition, where incense and worship are offered to eat peace dumplings. The dumplings here are relatively small and unfilled, and are usually cooked with brown or black sugar and water, which is known as Yuanzi soup. There is also a salty way to eat them, adding vegetables and meat or even hot pot ingredients to make a salty soup dumpling, which is very rare. In addition to the traditional soup dumplings without fillings, in recent years, wrapped filled dumplings have also come to the forefront as a new flavor.
I have also seen a dessert with a similar meaning in Indonesia and Singapore, called shredded coconut balls “Klepon”, it is said that this snack is the practice of the Chinese who came south from the 15th century, inherited from their mothers’ generation, palm sugar, coconut milk and glutinous rice are all specialties of the South Seas, so this kind of soup dumplings without soup, has become the local native Chinese Therefore, this kind of dumpling without soup has become an essential dessert for reunion during Chinese New Year festivals and traditional wedding banquets.
In northern China, the soup dumplings will make a hasty appearance on the 15th day of the first month, and those who have eaten dumplings for 15 days have been looking forward to this delicious sweet meal. The dumplings were once considered a staple food in the north, and I occasionally saw people buy a pound of surplus and put it in the pot after dinner, feeling their stomachs drop and being terrified. When it comes to my family, I am even more ashamed of myself because I love chocolate filled ones, and I had one when I was young, so I thought it was a traditional snack from old Beijing.
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