Historical origin of steamed dumplings

Steamed dumplings are a very popular specialty snack, which is said to have originated from steamed buns. The main difference between it and steamed stuffed bun is that it uses unfermented noodles as the skin, and the top is not sealed, showing pomegranate shape. It was originally called steamed dumplings, "with flour as the skin, meat as the stuffing, and flowers as the top. The dialect is called steamed dumplings." If we compare the formula of "Little Wheat" here with that of steamed dumplings today, we can see that they are the same thing.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, although the word "steamed dumplings" was still used, names such as "steamed dumplings" and "steamed dumplings" appeared, and "steamed dumplings" appeared more frequently. For example, the tenth time in The Scholars: "Two plates of dim sum, one plate of pig heart and one plate of steamed dumplings with goose oil and white sugar." There is also a description of "selling peach blossoms" in Jin Ping Mei Hua Ci. There is a saying that "steamed dumplings and wonton are full of dishes" in Zhi Zhu Ci during the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. The word "sell" appeared in Li Dou's The Story of Yangzhou Painting Boat and Lu Gu's Tongqiao Yishu. "The Story of Li Cuilian, the Express Book of Qingping Mountain Hall": "If it tastes bad, I'll cut three soups and two slices." Fu Chongju's Overview of Chengdu Dietary Recipes lists "all kinds of steamed dumplings, roasted meat, ground vegetables, frozen vegetables, mutton, chicken skin, pheasant, golden hook, vegetarian steamed dumplings, sesame steamed dumplings, plum blossom steamed dumplings, lotus steamed dumplings ..." Tiaoding Ji, a cookbook compiled anonymously in the Qing Dynasty. Among them, "steamed dumplings with Meat" takes chicken and ham as raw materials and seasonal dishes as fillings. "Stir-fried sugar" is filled with diced suet, walnut kernel and white sugar. There is also a kind of "stewed bean sprouts" in southern China.

Nowadays, the varieties sold everywhere are richer and more exquisite. Henan has cut stuffing for sale, Anhui has duck oil for sale, Hangzhou has beef for sale, Jiangxi has egg flower meat for sale, Shandong Linqing has mutton for sale, and Suzhou has Sam Sun for sale. There are chrysanthemums in Changsha, Hunan; Guangzhou has steamed pork, shrimp, crab meat, pork liver, beef and ribs, all of which have their own local characteristics.

The origin and legend of the name of steamed dumplings

There are different versions of the origin of the word "steamed dumplings". It is said that in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, two brothers lived by selling steamed buns near Jokhang Temple in Da 'nan Street. Later, my brother married his daughter-in-law, and my sister-in-law asked for separation. My brother makes steamed bread in the shop and sells it. My kind brother is as poor as a church mouse except for eating. In order to increase income, he will marry a daughter-in-law in the future. When he was steaming steamed buns, he made some thin-skinned "buns" and sold them separately.

There is another saying: As early as three years in Qianlong, Wang of Beijingli Village, Fushan County opened a Fushan Steamed Dumpling Restaurant outside Qianmen, making fried triangles and various famous dishes. On New Year's Eve, Gan Long came back from a private visit to Tongzhou and went to Fushan Steamed Dumplings Restaurant to eat steamed dumplings. The steamed dumplings here are soft and fragrant, oily but not greasy, white and crystal clear, like emerald pomegranate. After eating a big meal, he was full of praise. After returning to the palace, he personally wrote "all in one place" in three characters, and ordered people to make a plaque and send it to Fushan Steamed Dumpling Hall. Since then, the steamed dumpling restaurant has gained great fame and doubled its value. But this has little to do with the origin of the name.

The reason why steamed dumplings are not capped is because tea drinkers bring different kinds of side dishes, some are raw beef and mutton, ginger onions, some are radish vegetables and dried tofu ... In order to distinguish the side dishes of tea drinkers, they don't seal them. Whenever a steamer is steamed, the bartender will bring the steamer to the big table in the tea room and say, "Here comes the side dish of the tea drinker, please help yourself." At this time, the tea drinkers ordered their own "pancake cabbage" and drank it while eating.

Another way of saying this is that steamed dumplings originated from steamed stuffed bun. The main difference between it and steamed stuffed bun is that it uses unfermented noodles as the skin, and the top is not sealed, showing pomegranate shape.

Nowadays, the varieties sold everywhere are richer and more exquisite. For example, chopped stuffing in Henan, pork with scallion oil in Hebei, duck oil in Anhui, beef in Hangzhou, egg drop meat in Jiangxi, mutton in Linqing, Shandong, and three delicacies in Suzhou. There are chrysanthemums in Changsha, Hunan; Guangzhou has steamed pork, shrimp, crab meat, pork liver, beef and ribs, all of which have their own local characteristics.