It’s a fact that many Chinese like to eat dumplings. Chinese people eat dumplings during the Lunar New Year. They eat dumplings for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And countless others around the world regardless of background like eating dumplings too.

许多中国人喜欢吃饺子，这是一个事实。中国人在农历新年期间吃饺子。他们早餐、午餐和晚餐也常吃饺子。世界各地无数的人无论家庭背景如何，也喜欢吃饺子。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Growing up, when my Chinese-Malaysian family went to out to yum cha, that was when I got to eat Chinese dumplings. These days, whenever I catch up with my Asian and non-Asian friends here in Melbourne, Chinese dumplings are usually on the menu.

在我成长的过程中，当我的马来西亚华人家庭去吃百胜茶时，我就开始吃中国饺子了。这些日子，每当我在墨尔本与亚洲和非亚洲朋友见面时，菜单上通常都有中国饺子。

Defining ‘dumpling’ can be tricky. All over the world, there are dumplings of all shapes, sizes and fillings. Dumplings can be loosely thought of as ‘small pieces of dough…often wrapped around a filling’, either sweet or savoury, steamed, fried or boiled. They are often thought of as an easy, simple meal. But different dumplings have different origins, and each of us has our own reasons for eating dumplings.

给饺子下定义可能有点难。世界各地都有各种形状、大小和馅料的饺子。饺子可以被粗略地理解为“小块的面团，面团里包裹着馅料”，可以是甜的，也可以是咸的，蒸的，油炸的或水煮的。它们通常被认为是简单的饭菜。不同的饺子有不同的起源，每个人吃饺子都有自己的理由。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


For many Chinese, eating Chinese dumplings is a kind of superstition, a celebratory occasion where we feel hope, peace and a sense of completeness. In China, jiǎo zi are eaten during the Spring Festival to usher in the Lunar New Year, marking new beginnings. These dumplings are each shaped like a (crescent) moon with rugged patterns across their skins and edges; in Chinese culture the moon is symbolic of promising abundance and brightness. Eat dumplings, eat harmony and prosperity.

对许多中国人来说，吃饺子是一种迷信，是一种让我们感到希望、和平和圆满感的庆祝场合。在中国，人们在春节期间吃饺子来迎接农历新年，标志着新的开始。这些饺子的形状像一个(新月)月亮，表皮和边缘都有凹凸不平的图案。在中国文化中，月亮象征着富饶和光明。吃饺子，吃出和谐，吃出兴旺。

Growing up in Malaysia, during Chinese New Year festivities in Malaysia, me and the extended Cantonese-speaking family always had yum cha breakfasts and lunches. We’d order dumplings like gao choi gao/shrimp-chives, shrimp, shrimp-pork with yellow skins and pork-shrimp . We ate them for so long.

我在马来西亚长大，在马来西亚过春节时，我和讲广东话的大家庭总是享用百胜茶早餐和午餐。我们点的饺子有韭菜饺子、虾饺、烧卖、潮州粉果。我们吃了很长时间。

To many typical traditional Chinese, eating dumplings is eating a meal worth in gold. Eat dumplings, eat your way to riches and an affluent new beginning.

对于许多传统的中国人来说，吃饺子简直就是吃一顿黄金大餐。吃饺子，代表着财富和富裕生活的新开始。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


For many Chinese, part of the fun that comes with eating dumplings is making and plating them up together. Togetherness and the notion of family are virtues in Asian cultures. It takes time to knead dumpling dough, mince filling and wrap flattened dough around measured quantities of filling – all made by hand amidst gossiping with each other to pass the time making a meal of dumplings.

对许多中国人来说，吃饺子的乐趣之一就是包饺子。在亚洲文化中，团结的家庭观念是美德。揉面团、做馅料、用擀面杖擀皮，把饺子包好都需要时间——这些馅料都是手工制作的，在包饺子中，人们彼此闲聊来打发时间。

And consequently eating Chinese dumplings is often a meal where you share. In Chinese culture, teamwork punches above individuality; sharing is dignified, just like how many Chinese share tiny apartments with family and naturally spoon food onto each other’s plates. Sure, you can order a whole plate of dumplings and have it all to yourself. and Chinese dumplings are almost always made to share, coming in an even number 6, 8, 12 or more pieces per plate.

因此，中国吃饺子通常是一餐团圆饭。在中国文化中，团队合作重于个性；就像许多中国人和家人合住在公寓里，自然而然地把食物夹到彼此的盘子里一样。当然，你可以点一整盘饺子，一个人把它吃光，但中国的饺子几乎总是用来分享的，每个盘子里的饺子数量是6个、8个、12个，甚至更多，但都是偶数。

There’s the misconception that all dumplings are distinctively Chinese. They aren’t. There are African dumplings. Indian dumplings. Japanese dumplings. South American dumplings. And more. From souskluitjies to samosas to gyozas to empandas, there are countless versions of the dumpling. Some dumplings originated during the Eastern Han Dynasty in ancient China to keep locals warm in winter, some from a Roman cookery text and the word ‘dumpling’ itself is rumoured to date back to the 1600s in the Norfolk area in the UK. But mention dumplings, a lot of the time many Australians will think of dumplings as part of Chinese or Asian cuisine – in the city of Melbourne, countless restaurants serving dumplings brand themselves as Chinese.

这里有一种误解，认为所有的饺子都是中国特色的。其实不是这样。也有非洲饺子，印度饺子，日本饺子，南美饺子等等。从汤圆到咖喱饺子到肉馅饺子，饺子的种类数不胜数。一些饺子起源于中国古代的东汉时期，用来让当地人在冬天取暖。有些饺子起源于罗马的烹饪文本，据传“饺子”这个词本身可以追溯到17世纪的英国诺福克地区。提到饺子，许多澳大利亚人会认为饺子是中国或亚洲美食的一部分，在墨尔本，无数提供饺子的餐馆都标榜自己是中国正宗的饺子。

Perhaps Chinese dumplings are more popular because they tend to come across as palatable. A kind of food so different, yet so similar to some of us. Chinese dumplings are similar to Western pasta such as ravioli, and so perhaps appear approachable to non-Chinese who eat pasta. Also, many Chinese dumplings don’t look much like adventurous food – they tend to be small, dainty, pieces of almost-finger-like food that can be easily popped in the mouth.

也许中国饺子更受欢迎，这是因为它们美味可口。这是一种与众不同，却又与我们中的一些食物非常相似的食物。中国饺子和西方的意大利面食类似，比如意大利混沌，对于吃意大利面食的非中国人来说，中国饺子显得平易近人。许多中国饺子看起来不太像需要下决心才敢尝试的食物——它们往往小巧玲珑，可以很容易地放进嘴里。

Whenever me and my white Australian friend and peace-loving blogger Rebecca Rossi catch up, we usually do dumplings. Din Tai Fung is where we like to go, and my lovely friend always places orders for savoury veggie jiǎo zi and sweet taro paste baos . This restaurant is on the pricey side and some nights there are queues for a table. In a sense, while some dumplings are cheap convenient eats, some are more upmarket which we can call a treat.

每当我和我的澳大利亚白人朋友、热爱和平的博客作者丽贝卡.罗西叙旧时，我们通常会一起包饺子。鼎泰丰是我们喜欢去的地方，我可爱的朋友总是在这里点开胃蔬菜和香甜的芋泥包。这家餐馆价格昂贵，如果晚上去，有的时候还需要排队。从某种意义上说，虽然有些饺子是便宜方便的食物，但有些是高档昂贵的。

All around the world, food tastes different, made different and served different, dumplings included. Some might say many places in Australia serve Westernised, non-authentic Chinese dumplings. many Chinese dumplings I’ve eaten in Australia have incredibly thicker and tougher skin, grittier filling and are saltier. In America, it seems that Westernised Chinese dumplings are common too. A few times I’ve ordered jiǎo zi in Melbourne and they came with straight up soy sauce; traditionally in Chinese culture, eating dumplings come with a vinegar-soy sauce combination or straight up vinegar.

世界各地的食物口味不同，制作方法不同，供应方式也不同，饺子也不例外。有人可能会说，澳大利亚很多地方的饺子都是西式的、不是正宗的中国饺子。我在澳大利亚吃过的许多中国饺子皮厚得难以置信，肉馅更硬，味道也更咸。在美国，西化的中国饺子也很常见。我在墨尔本点过几次饺子，它们都是直接搭配酱油的；在中国传统文化中，吃饺子要搭配醋和酱油，或直接搭配醋。

Then again, our taste buds and palates are always changing, and hybrid cuisine is becoming more popular as the world is becoming more multicultural. Chocolate dim sum dumplings, anyone? Or how about bacon cheeseburger dumplings?

此外，我们的味蕾和味觉总是在变化，随着世界变得越来越多元化，混合烹饪也变得越来越受欢迎。有人想吃巧克力馅饺子吗？或者培根芝士汉堡饺子怎么样？

Just as there are different kinds of dumplings, there are different ways to eat dumplings.during yum cha with the family when I was little (and even today), we never ate Chinese dumplings exclusively on their own. Apart from siu mai, dad ordered other yum cha items like radish cake, chicken glutinous rice and egg tart to make a well-rounded meal. Generally, eating dumplings is fairly healthy if they are vegetable based and not deep-fried.

饺子的种类不同，吃饺子的方法也不同。在我小时候和家人一起吃茶点时，我们从来不单独吃中国饺子。除了烧麦外，爸爸还点了其他的茶点食品，比如萝卜糕、鸡肉糯米糕和蛋挞，是一顿丰盛的晚餐。一般来说，饺子是相当健康的食品，饺子以蔬菜为主料，而且不用油炸。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


A few years ago, a Chinese restaurant opened beside my office. Around lunchtime on opening day, one of their Chinese wait staff came over to my work and brought over more than a few pieces of steamed and pan-fried chicken, pork, prawn-stuffed jiǎo zi – all on the house. Literally everyone in the office dropped what they were doing and helped themselves to the free dumplings – all gone in less than half an hour. They weren’t the best I’ve had. But as one of my white, beer-loving Aussie friends in the office said shortly after:

几年前，我办公室旁边开了一家中餐馆。大约在开业当天的午餐时间，他们的一名中国服务员来到我工作的地方，给我带来了不少蒸饺、猪肉馅饺子、鸡肉馅饺子、虾饺，所有这些饺子都是免费的。办公室里的每个人都放下手头的工作，享用了免费的饺子，不到半小时就吃光了这些饺子。不过，它们不是我吃过的最好的饺子。不久之后，我办公室里一位爱喝啤酒的澳大利亚白人朋友说:

“When you want good Asian food like tasty dumplings, it’s best to go to a place that is packed with Asians.”

“当你想吃美味的亚洲美食，比如饺子时，最好去一个挤满了亚洲人的地方。”

Do you like eating dumplings?

你喜欢吃饺子吗?