JiaoZi Nut

From my recent postings, you might think I was some sort of niu rou mian nut. But I'm not. I enjoy the dish - it brings back memories of my parents getting noodle bowls (niu rou mian and pai gu mian) - but if there was only ONE dish I could have for the rest of my life, it would be jiaozi! When I was living in NYC, I had a favorite place in Manhattan Chinatown - Lin's Dumpling House. I probably had a slight disposition considering the matching name, but the fact that they had many varieties of dumplings was really the key part - 14 to choose from! I was disappointed that they had closed shop years later.

There was a place in Seattle serving dumplings that a couple people raved about - but I thought was utterly terrible (as is often the case in bad Chinese restaurants in America). The skin was homemade (a plus), but it was too thick and the filling was incredibly boring - mostly just pork. They only had one variety. I never returned. I made them myself at home when I had the energy. Here's my recipe:

JiaoZi - Dumpling
Dumpling making parties are fun and tasty. The mixture is made to taste based on ingredients you prefer and have available. Omit the meat to make vegetarian style. Anything goes with jiaozi - my friend Kevin once made a mango jiao zi because he couldn't eat the pork filling we made.

2 packages wrappers (Shanghai style, not Hong Kong)
1 lb lean ground pork
2-3 zucchini (cabbage can be substituted)
Chinese mushrooms, soaked and chopped
shrimp (uncooked, peeled, deveined, chopped, salted)
thin rice noodles (softened and chopped)
Salt
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
pepper, ginger
minced spinach
garlic
chives
water chestnuts
tofu, firm

1. Grate zucchini, add salt to sweat and drain excess liquid.
2. Add seasonings to pork and mix well.
3. Combine pork, zucchini, mushrooms and mian. Season.
4. Wrap mixture in wrapper with one or two pieces of shrimp.
5. Boil in water until floating and thoroughly cooked - approximately 4 minutes when fresh. Otherwise, freeze immediately. Frozen dumplings take approximately 7 minutes to cook.

Now in Taipei, I can have fresh made jiaozi every day if I want. I try to vary it up a little (with my second favorite, baozi, and then other rice/noodle/bread dishes) but there are some moments where I think about just going all jiaozi all the time. What's prevented me is probably finding a really awesome jiaozi place. I've had a couple recommendations to me so far that I still need to find and try. The closest place to me has workers that just aren't quite as friendly as I would like. There's also a jiaozi chain store that I see everywhere, and have tried a couple times when desperate for a snack.

My current list of places to try:

• Zhou Panzi Dumpling House (周胖子餃子館)
  37 Zhongxiao East Road, Sec 5 (忠孝東路五段37號)
  Taipei City Hall station, facing away from the Taipei 101
• Tung Men Jiaozi Guan 東門餃子 (Dong1 Men1 Jiao3 Zi)
  37, Lane 31, Sec 2, Jinshan S Rd
  02-2341-1685
  11:00-14:30 17:00-21:00
  YongKang St area with a fish pond in front.
  This place has many kinds of dumplings (unlike the other ones I've tried which only have 2 varieties). English menu
  
• Jin Din Rou 京鼎樓 Jing1 Ding3 Lou2 - Tina said this one had good dumplings - I wonder if she meant jiao zi or just xiao long bao.
  * 台北市長春路47号 = Changchun Rd
  * Tel: (02)2523-6639, MRT中山駅
  [Note: There's one in Japan too.]
  

If anyone has any other suggestions on jiaozi places to try, do tell.