餃子 ( Jiaozi )

Jiaozi (Chinese: 餃子; [tɕjàʊ.tsɨ] (listen); pinyin: jiǎozi) are a type of Chinese dumpling. Jiaozi are folded to resemble Chinese sycee and have great cultural significance attached to them within China. Jiaozi are one of the major dishes eaten during the Chinese New Year throughout northern China and eaten all year round in the northern provinces. Though considered part of Chinese cuisine, jiaozi are popular in other parts of East Asia and in the Western world, where a fried variety is sometimes called potstickers in North America and Chinese dumplings in the UK and Canada. The English-language term "potsticker" is a calque of the Mandarin word "guotie" (鍋貼). Potsticker was used by Buwei Yang Chao and her husband Yuen Ren Chao in the book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, which was first published in 1945. In northern China, however, "guotie" specifically refers to a type of pan-fried jiaozi with its ends left open rather than just any pan-fried jiaozi.

Jiaozi typically consist of a ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together. Finished jiaozi can be boiled (shuǐ jiǎo), steamed (zhēng jiǎo), pan fried (jiān jiǎo), or deep fried (zhá jiǎo), and are traditionally served with a black vinegar and sesame oil dip. They can also be served in a soup (tāng jiǎo).