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Types of dumplings in China
Prior to my arrival to China, I only knew about wonton and jiaozi, which I assumed to similar to pelmeni.
As it turned out, there is no end to the variations of dumplings, so here are some of the most common dumplings in China that I've come across so far!
饺子 - jiǎozi These are thin veggie or meat filled dumplings, and they can be steamed, boiled or fried but I've only tried the steamed variety so far which is pretty tasty. They somewhat resemble pelmeni, but the tast is noticeably different.
馄饨 - húntún (wonton) These dumplings are similar to jiǎozi but thinner and they're usually eaten in soup.
生煎包 - shēngjiānbāo These are slightly crispy, fried dumplings usually with a pork-filling。
锅贴 - guōtiē These dumplings are the crispy-ish type, deep-fried and steamed with various fillings like veggies and meat.
水饺 - shuǐjiǎo They're quite similar to the 锅贴, but these dumplings are boiled (note the 水) without the frying.
小笼包 - xiǎolóngbāo These are steamed buns, usually filled pork but they can also have other fillings like veggies and seafood.
Honourary mentions: These aren't dumplings, but they're adjacent enough imo.
肉包子 - ròubāozi These are biggish steamed buns with a meat filling. I have these for breakfast and they're really good.
菜包子 - càibāozi Same as the ròubāozi, but with veggies and also pretty tasty.
If I missed any, let me know which ones as I'm always looking to try new things!