Family Meal Plan: Jiaozi Dumplings with Sweet Soy Sauce + Rosy Coconut-Cranberry Refresher

Jiaozi Dumplings with Sweet Soy Sauce

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• blend :

  to stir together two or more ingredients until just combined; blending is a gentler process than mixing.

• chop :

  to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.

• drizzle :

  to trickle a thin stream of a liquid ingredient, like icing or sauce, over food.

• grate :

  to reduce food, like a carrot, to very small shreds or pieces of the same size by rubbing it on a tool with an outside surface that has holes with cutting edges (a grater).

• knead :

  to work dough by pushing, pulling, and folding it by hand or with a stand mixer.

• knife skills :

  Bear Claw (growl), Pinch, Plank, and Bridge (look out for trolls). 

• pour :

  to cause liquid, granules, or powder to stream from one container into another.

• rest (dough) :

  to let bread or pastry dough relax, allowing the dough to absorb more liquid and become more pliable before shaping it.

• whisk :

  to beat or stir ingredients vigorously with a fork or whisk to mix, blend, or incorporate air.

What are "Jiaozi"?

• "Jiaozi" (JYOW-dzuh) are Chinese dumplings filled with ground meat or vegetables. They may be cooked by boiling, steaming, baking, pan-frying, or deep-frying. Gyōza (GYOH-zuh) are a Japanese version of jiaozi.
• The word "jiaozi" means "dumpling" in Mandarin Chinese. They are believed to have originated with Zhang Zhongjing, a Chinese physician and inventor during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE). He made a hot broth and boiled dough wrappers filled with chopped stewed lamb and seasonings in it to treat people with frostbitten ears, prompting the name "tender ears" for the dumplings.
• Jiaozi is a popular dish for the Chinese New Year. They may be filled with meat, like beef, chicken, fish, pork, and shrimp. Or, they may be filled with vegetables, like cabbage, carrot, celery, green onion, mushroom, or spinach. 
• You can add the dumplings to a broth or dip them in a simple soy sauce or some combination of soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, scallions, garlic, and chili oil.

Let's Learn About China!

• China's official name is The People's Republic of China. It became a republic in 1912; however, the first Chinese dynasty appeared around 2100 BCE. China is one of the largest countries in the world, and it has the most people!
• The official language of China is Mandarin. However, various dialects are spoken in different regions of the country. For example, in Shanghai, they speak Shanghainese.
• China is around the same size as the continental United States but only has one official time zone. The continental US has four.  
• China's capital city is Beijing, while the most populated city is Shanghai.  
• The Great Wall in China is the largest man-made construction on Earth, stretching an incredible 5,500 miles. Its builders used mortar that included sticky rice to bind the Great Wall's stones! 
• China's land is diverse, with high mountains, low coastal lands, deserts, and damp tropical areas. Just like the United States!
• The Chinese are known for their papermaking, porcelain, and silk cloth. In addition to paper, they also invented the compass during the Han dynasty (202 BCE to 220 CE), woodblock printing in the Tang dynasty (by 7th century), gunpowder in the Tang dynasty (9th century), and movable type made of porcelain (for printing) between 1039 and 1048 CE, during the Song dynasty.
• Chinese cuisine varies by region. Climate, local agriculture, ethnic and class backgrounds, and outside influences all contribute to China's food diversity. There are eight major regional Chinese cuisines: Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Szechuan, and Zhejiang.
• Wheat is farmed in northern China, so noodles and other foods made from wheat are consumed more in the North. On the other hand, rice is cultivated in southern China; therefore, rice is a staple in the South.  
• Tea has long been part of Chinese culture across all parts of society. China was the first country to grow and drink tea and, today, it exports the most green tea worldwide.

What's It Like to Be a Kid in China?

• School success is greatly emphasized in China. Chinese kids go to school five days a week (six days before 1995), and their school day runs from 7:30 or 8 am until 4 or 5 pm. After school, they might do homework for three hours.
• In primary school, kids learn the Chinese language, which is made up of about 7,000 characters, not letters. The characters represent words. By the time they finish primary school, they will have learned about 4,000 characters. They will also learn a foreign language, especially English.
• Kids may not have aunts, uncles, or cousins because, at one time, the Chinese government allowed couples to have just one child due to the high population. That later changed to two, and in May 2021, the policy changed again to allow three kids, so now a child may have a sibling or two. 
• Some of the holidays that kids celebrate with their families are Chinese New Year, the Dragon Boat Festival, and National Day. National Day is celebrated with fireworks and parades to commemorate the formal proclamation of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. 
• Kids enjoy playing ping pong, basketball, volleyball, and badminton. They also play video games and ride their bikes. 
• Rice and noodles are staples, and kids may eat these at every meal. They'll eat their food using chopsticks, not forks!