A vendor sells dumplings and wontons for a low price at a food stall at a morning market in Taipei. She prepares each dumpling by hand with a flour skin wrapped around a spoonful of minced pork and scallion stuffing.
She then places a batch of dumplings onto a plate, sprinkles a coating of flour onto them, and tosses them into the air as if to ensure all of the dumplings have been covered evenly. Next, she neatly arranges them into plastic trays and sells them fresh or puts them in the freezer for storage.
Dumplings are a staple food that can be had for breakfast, lunch, or dinner instead of noodles, rice, breads, buns, or other starch. They are made with a variety of fillings such as minced pork, prawns, mutton, leeks, chives, cabbage, and mushrooms, as well as other ingredients. They can be fried, steamed, or tossed into boiling water for some ten minutes, and enjoyed with dark soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, or other condiments that give the right balance of flavor and taste.
Traditionally, dumplings were prepared and eaten by many families on the eve of the Lunar New Year. The New Year’s Eve feast has special significance in Chinese culture: dumplings are called jiaozi, which is a homonym that signifies the change of the old year for the new.