Fillings[edit]

Suancai shuijiao (酸菜水餃, boiled jiaozi with suan cai stuffing), Northeastern Chinese style

Common dumpling meat fillings include chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, and fish which are usually mixed

with chopped vegetables. Popular vegetable fillings include napa cabbage, scallion (spring
onions), celery, leek, spinach, mushroom, carrot, garlic chives, and edible black fungus.

Folding technique[edit]

In north China, folded jiaozi are placed on bi (箅), in case the stuffing will make the shape saggy. Bi is made by
dried sorghum stems, and it also gives Jiaozi a mark at the bottom.

There are many ways to fold jiaozi. Basically, steps for folding the skin includes putting a single pleat
in the middle, putting multiple pleats along the edge, making a wavy edge like a pie crust, turning a
pleated edge in toward the body resulting in a rounded edge, and putting both ends together
resulting in a round shape.[citation needed] Different shapes of Jiaozi require different folding techniques, but
the most famous and common technique is the pinched-edge fold.[11] Take a wrapper and put one
tablespoon of filling into the center of the wrapper. Fold a half of edge to the other half. Use left
thumb and forefinger to pinch one side of the half-moon wrapper, and then use right thumb to push
the inside skin outward, right forefinger to make outside skin into small pleats. Use right thumb to
clench those pleats. Repeat these steps to the other side of the wrapper, and make sure to clench
the seal of Jiaozi.[12] This is crescent-shaped jiaozi, the most popular shape in China.

Variations[edit]
Guangdong[edit]
Jiaozi is called gaau ji in Cantonese and are standard fare in Guangdong style dim sum. The
immediate noted difference to Northern style is that they are smaller and wrapped in a thinner
translucent skin, and usually steamed. The smaller size and the thinner wrapper make the
dumplings easier to cook through with steaming. In contrast to jiaozi, Guangdong gaau ji are rarely
home-made because the wrapper, which needs to be thin but tough enough to not break, is more
difficult to make. Many types of fillings exist, with the most common type being har gow (simplified
Chinese: 虾饺; traditional Chinese: 蝦餃; Cantonese Yale: hā gáau; lit. 'shrimp dumplings'), but
fillings can include scallop, chicken, tofu, and mixed vegetables; dim sum restaurants often feature
their own house specials or innovations. Dim sum chefs and artists often use ingredients in new or
creative ways, or draw inspiration from other Chinese culinary traditions, such as Chaozhou, Hakka,
or Shanghai. More creative chefs may even create fusion gaau ji by using elements from other
cultures, such as Japanese (teriyaki) or Southeast Asian (satay or curry), while upscale restaurants
may use expensive or exotic ingredients such as lobster, shark fin and bird's nest.
Another Cantonese dumpling is yau gok (Chinese: 油角; pinyin: yóu jiǎo; Cantonese Yale: yàuh
gok), which are made with glutinous rice dough and deep fried.

Guotie[edit]

Making guotie

A plate of potstickers (guotie) and dipping sauce

Guotie (Chinese: 鍋貼; pinyin: guōtiē; lit. 'pot stick') are a northern Chinese style dumpling popular

as a street food, appetizer, or side order in Chinese cuisine. Guotie differs from pan fried dumplings,
or jianjiao, in that the shape of guotie is usually elongated and the two ends are often left open.
Guotie is sometimes served on a dim sum menu, but may be offered independently. The filling for
both guotie and jianjiao usually contains pork (sometimes chicken, or beef
in Muslim areas), cabbage (or Chinese cabbage and sometimes spinach), scallions (spring or green
onions), ginger, Chinese rice wine or cooking wine, and sesame seed oil. In southern China, the
term "guotie" is often used as a synonym for the typical jianjiao rather than referring to a particular
variety of it.