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.
許多中國人喜歡吃餃子，這是一個事實。中國人在農(nóng)歷新年期間吃餃子。他們早餐、午餐和晚餐也常吃餃子。世界各地無數(shù)的人無論家庭背景如何，也喜歡吃餃子。

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.
在我成長的過程中，當我的馬來西亞華人家庭去吃百勝茶時，我就開始吃中國餃子了。這些日子，每當我在墨爾本與亞洲和非亞洲朋友見面時，菜單上通常都有中國餃子。

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.
給餃子下定義可能有點難。世界各地都有各種形狀、大小和餡料的餃子。餃子可以被粗略地理解為“小塊的面團，面團里包裹著餡料”，可以是甜的，也可以是咸的，蒸的，油炸的或水煮的。它們通常被認為是簡單的飯菜。不同的餃子有不同的起源，每個人吃餃子都有自己的理由。

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.
我在馬來西亞長大，在馬來西亞過春節(jié)時，我和講廣東話的大家庭總是享用百勝茶早餐和午餐。我們點的餃子有韭菜餃子、蝦餃、燒賣、潮州粉果。我們吃了很長時間。

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.
對許多中國人來說，吃餃子的樂趣之一就是包餃子。在亞洲文化中，團結(jié)的家庭觀念是美德。揉面團、做餡料、用搟面杖搟皮，把餃子包好都需要時間——這些餡料都是手工制作的，在包餃子中，人們彼此閑聊來打發(fā)時間。

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.
也許中國餃子更受歡迎，這是因為它們美味可口。這是一種與眾不同，卻又與我們中的一些食物非常相似的食物。中國餃子和西方的意大利面食類似，比如意大利混沌，對于吃意大利面食的非中國人來說，中國餃子顯得平易近人。許多中國餃子看起來不太像需要下決心才敢嘗試的食物——它們往往小巧玲瓏，可以很容易地放進嘴里。

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.
每當我和我的澳大利亞白人朋友、熱愛和平的博客作者麗貝卡.羅西敘舊時，我們通常會一起包餃子。鼎泰豐是我們喜歡去的地方，我可愛的朋友總是在這里點開胃蔬菜和香甜的芋泥包。這家餐館價格昂貴，如果晚上去，有的時候還需要排隊。從某種意義上說，雖然有些餃子是便宜方便的食物，但有些是高檔昂貴的。

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，供應方式也不同，餃子也不例外。有人可能會說，澳大利亞很多地方的餃子都是西式的、不是正宗的中國餃子。我在澳大利亞吃過的許多中國餃子皮厚得難以置信，肉餡更硬，味道也更咸。在美國，西化的中國餃子也很常見。我在墨爾本點過幾次餃子，它們都是直接搭配醬油的；在中國傳統(tǒng)文化中，吃餃子要搭配醋和醬油，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，我們的味蕾和味覺總是在變化，隨著世界變得越來越多元化，混合烹飪也變得越來越受歡迎。有人想吃巧克力餡餃子嗎？或者培根芝士漢堡餃子怎么樣？

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.
餃子的種類不同，吃餃子的方法也不同。在我小時候和家人一起吃茶點時，我們從來不單獨吃中國餃子。除了燒麥外，爸爸還點了其他的茶點食品，比如蘿卜糕、雞肉糯米糕和蛋撻，是一頓豐盛的晚餐。一般來說，餃子是相當健康的食品，餃子以蔬菜為主料，而且不用油炸。

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:
幾年前，我辦公室旁邊開了一家中餐館。大約在開業(yè)當天的午餐時間，他們的一名中國服務員來到我工作的地方，給我?guī)砹瞬簧僬麸?、豬肉餡餃子、雞肉餡餃子、蝦餃，所有這些餃子都是免費的。辦公室里的每個人都放下手頭的工作，享用了免費的餃子，不到半小時就吃光了這些餃子。不過，它們不是我吃過的最好的餃子。不久之后，我辦公室里一位愛喝啤酒的澳大利亞白人朋友說:

“When you want good Asian food like tasty dumplings, it’s best to go to a place that is packed with Asians.”
“當你想吃美味的亞洲美食，比如餃子時，最好去一個擠滿了亞洲人的地方?！?

Do you like eating dumplings?

你喜歡吃餃子嗎?