Snack Attack: Shui Jiao (水饺) Boiled Dumplings

(Beef and cabbage filled steamed dumplings. They lasted 4 whole minutes)

I've probably eaten more of these tasty vittles, than anything else in Xuzhou and China for that matter (rice obviously excluded). They're dumplings, simple, delicious, bite sized and filling. They can be filled with anything: beef, pork, chicken, tofu, fish, veggies, cabbage, garlic you name it. Usually they are a mix of some meat product and a little bit of vegetable or cabbage, but sometimes they can have minature glass noodles and even potatoes inside.

While these kinds are steamed in a boiling pot of water, like pasta, other varieties include fried, bun type ones, pot stickers and baozi, which are like minature steamed buns with meat inside. When eating shui jiao or jiao zi, all you really need is a little tray with garlic, soy sauce, or more common in China vinegar-soy sauce mixture, and la jia, or simply spicy oil. Dip one of these little suckers into your self concocted tray of sauce, and stuff the whole thing in your mouth. Just be careful, they're usually served steaming hot and will retain some water.

At about 3-4 kuai a plate of 6, they can be a good way to compliment a meal of noodles. Or if your more like me, 4 plates will suffice, making you full and entirely content. After eating these delicious snacks, you'll understand why they've become a mainstay of my chinese eating habits. Just don't get sucked into a dumpling eating contest...