The Manchuria Dumpling King on St. Mathieu Street serves steaming plates of jiaozi. (Corrine Smith/CBC)
Vegetarian jiaozi stuffed with egg, tomato and zucchini.
Dumplings are eaten along with other foods on Chinese New Year to bring wealth, happiness and good fortune. Chinese dumplings, called jiaozi, symbolize luck because of how they're made - the finely minced meat and vegetable filling wrapped in dough is believed to package luck in a bite-size morsel.
Eating dumplings on New Year's Day is "very important," said Anna Xu, director at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Montreal. "You have to eat at least one, for peace and safety. It means you'll have luck and security for the whole year."
New Year dumplings are similar to their smaller Cantonese-style cousins that are staple fare at Dim Sum. Typically stuffed with combinations of pork, beef, seafood, green onion, cabbage and ginger, New Year-style dumplings are "common food in northern China, where people eat them all year round," explains Chongai Liu, who took over as owner and manager of Montreal's Manchuria Dumpling King restaurant in late 2006. "But all Chinese eat them on New Year's Day."
The Manchuria Dumpling King (Ravioli du Manchuria) on St. Mathieu Street near Concordia University serves up 10 mouth-watering varieties, including pork and pickled Chinese cabbage, pork, shrimp and squid, and beef and chive with a hint of ginger.
Fried jiaozi with minced pork and pickled Chinese cabbage.
Boiled or fried, dumplings are served in a steaming heap with soy and vinegar for dipping, with minced ginger and hot peppers for an extra hot kick. It's easy to polish off a dozen or more in one sitting.
Families need an abundance of dumplings for New Year celebrations, and will often come together before the start of the holiday to make vast quantities. "Women in the family prepare the dumplings together on New Year's Eve," said Anna Xu.
On the first day of the lunar New Year, family members are expected to try at least one, she said. "Even if you don't want to eat a dumpling, your grandmother or mother will make you eat one first thing in the morning," she added, laughing. "You have no choice. It's tradition."
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