Chinese Dumplings — Wealth

饺子——财富

With a history of more than 1,800 years, dumplings (饺子 Jiǎozi /jyaoww-dzrr/) are a classic Chinese food, and a traditional dish eaten on Chinese New Year's Eve, widely popular in China, especially in North China.

拥有1800多年历史的饺子是经典的中国美食，是年夜饭的一道传统菜，在中国，尤其是中国北方很常见。

Chinese dumplings can be made to look like Chinese silver ingots (which are not bars, but boat-shaped, oval, and turned up at the two ends). Legend has it that the more dumplings you eat during the New Year celebrations, the more money you can make in the New Year.

有人把饺子包得像元宝（寓意：招财进宝）。传说你在庆祝新年时吃的饺子越多，你在来年挣的钱越多。

Dumplings generally consist of minced¹ meat and finely-chopped vegetables wrapped in a thin and elastic² dough³ skin. Popular fillings are minced pork, diced⁴ shrimp⁵, fish, ground chicken, beef, and vegetables. They can be cooked by boiling, steaming, frying or baking.

饺子里通常包的是肉馅和切碎的蔬菜，面皮薄而有弹性。人们爱吃的饺子馅有绞肉、虾仁、鱼肉、碎鸡肉、牛肉和蔬菜。饺子可以煮、蒸、煎或烤。

Chinese don't eat Chinese sauerkraut (酸菜 suāncài /swann-tseye/) dumplings at Spring Festival, because it implies a poor and difficult future. On New Year's Eve it is a tradition to eat dumplings with cabbage and radish, implying that one's skin will become fair and one's mood will become gentle.

中国人不在春节吃酸菜馅饺子，因为这暗示着贫穷艰苦的未来。除夕的传统是吃白菜萝卜馅饺子，据说吃了皮肤能变白，性格变温和。

怎样能包出吉利的饺子？

When making dumplings there should be a good number of pleats. If you make the junction⁶ too flat, it is thought to purport⁷ poverty.

包饺子要多捏几个褶。如果你把饺子边捏得过平，意味着贫穷。

Some Chinese put a white thread inside a dumpling, and the one who eats that dumpling is supposed to possess longevity⁸. Sometimes a copper⁹ coin is put in a dumpling, and the one who eats it is supposed to become wealthy.

有的中国人会在饺子里放一条白线，吃到这个白线饺子的人将会长寿。有时还会在饺子里放一个铜币，吃到铜币的人将会富有。

Dumplings should be arranged in lines instead of circles, because circles of dumplings are supposed to mean one's life will go round in circles, never going anywhere.

饺子要按直线摆放，不能摆成圆圈，因为排成圆圈的饺子意味着生活会一直在原地绕。