XI'AN DUMPLING BANQUET or 西(Xī) 安(ān)饺(Jiǎo)子(Zi)宴(Yàn) (GF)

CHEF JING LIU, a member of the Chinese Street Market DC talent pool, was born and raised in Guangdong province, China (where dim sum is daily dining), and a graduate of the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Paris.

Chinese dumplings are generally known to consist of dough wrapped around various fillings. What is not generally known is that dumplings are a derivation of what we now know as wontons.

The dish’s origins in Chang'an—present day Xi'an—date back up to 2000 years ago during the Western Han Dynasty. The dish was at first named 馄饨 (húntun, also “wonton”) a play on the Chinese word for primordial chaos, 浑沌 (hùndùn). This was due to the imagery evoked by the dough wrapper encasing the filling, akin to an egg (i.e., the cosmic egg) in Chinese cosmogony that entombs a mythological creation being (Pángǔ) in primordial darkness.

During the Tang Dynasty, a square-shaped wrap was introduced in a deliberate effort to distinguish the newly separate dishes. The square wrap would be used for wontons, while the round wrap was used for the 扁食 (biǎn shí) dish. During the Ming dynasty, this dish came to be known as 饺子 (jiǎozi), the contemporary word for dumplings.

Nearly 50 years ago, the Xi’an Dumpling Banquet Restaurant created its eponymous dumpling banquet menu in response to rising tourism. The dumplings they make are known for having exquisite shapes and soft textures. The Xi'an Dumpling Banquet calls for a variety of ingredients and seasonings to create a range of flavors, as well as a beautiful presentation that stands out from traditional Chinese dumplings. The full menu requires the various techniques traditionally used to make dumplings, including steam, deep-fry, pan-fry, and boil.

The Xi'an Dumpling Banquet was conceived with 5 styles that vary in extravagance: Palace Banquet or宫(Gōng)廷(Tíng)宴(Yàn); Eight Treasure Banquet or八(Bā)珍(Zhēn)宴 (Yàn); Dragon & Phoenix Banquet or龙(Lóng)凤(Fèng)宴(Yàn); Peony Banquet or牡(Mǔ)丹(Dān)宴 (Yàn); and Blooming Bouquet Banquet or百(Bǎi)花(Huā) 宴(Yàn). Each banquet consists of 108 kinds of dumplings but differ in fillings and shapes according to the chosen banquet style. The dumpling courses are served in order of flavor: savory, sweet, mala, and then spicy. A sweet white mushroom soup is served between courses to cleanse the palette.