Jiaozi for Lunar New Year

The Lunar New Year is fast approaching (Jan 22nd, 2023) and for many Taiwanese Americans, it’s a time to spend with family and community and wish each other a prosperous new year.

It’s a big feast day with elaborate dishes to feed the whole family. One dish, equal parts family activity and symbolic gesture for prosperity, is the boiled dumpling, or jiaozi 餃子.

Jiaozi has as many forms of fillings, wrappers, and prep methods as there are ethnicities in Asia. Hunan Market provides a variety of jiaozi that you can readily prepare at home. They make for a great quick weeknight meal and especially a low effort and healthy lunch when working at home.

Here’s a quick boil method that takes less than 10 minutes!

Beef and Onion

Vegetarian

Egg, Tomato, and mungbean Vermicelli

Lamb and Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Equipment

• 1 Large Pot

• Strainer or slotted spoon (for stirring and scooping)

• 1 small cup

Steps

1. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil on high heat.

2. Add dumplings. Generally do this in batches where you have 1 layer of dumplings in the pot. Stir when adding to ensure they do not stick to each other.

3. Bring back to a boil

4. Add about 1/4 cup of water

5. Bring to a boil again, should take about 1 minute.

6. Depending on your preference for doneness, you can repeat the process of adding 1/4 cup of water and bringing it to a boil 2 more times. If you prefer your wrapper to be on the more al dente side, you only need to do this once.

7. Once a dumpling is floating, any meat inside is considered cooked through. Scoop them out and you can proceed with your next batch.