CHINESE dumplings (jiaozi) are traditionally prepared and eaten during celebrations of people from North China. One of the celebrations is Chinese New Year and descendants of the Northern Chinese or ‘Shantung’ group residing in Sabah took pride in preparing and serving the dumplings then.
Veronica Chin Siew is a third generation ‘Shantung’ and prepares the ‘jiaozi’ every year for her family when they come home for the Chinese New Year celebration. Veronica and husband Bernard have three daughters who are all married and live abroad.
This year, their eldest daughter Anneline and her husband Amin Malik Shah with their three daughters Iman, Amal and Sophia are at home to celebrate the lunar new year and together with Veronica, they prepare the ‘jiaozi’ for the family gathering on Chinese New Year eve.
For Veronica, making the dumplings with her daughter, grandchildren and relatives is one way of keeping the tradition of their ‘Shantung’ ethnicity alive as most are now of mixed parentage.
According to Veronica, the traditional filling for the ‘jiaozi’ is minced pork but she substituted it with chicken as her daughter and family are Muslims.
“It can also be filled with garlic and chives for those who are vegetarian,” she said, adding that the boiled version is called ‘jiaozi’ while the fried dumplings are known as ‘gouteh’ or ‘woteh’ as it is popularly known here in Kota Kinabalu.
“When I was younger, the whole family would get together to make this and in fact my eldest sister, youngest brother and their families still do this on the first day of Chinese New Year,” she said, adding that she was happy that the tradition is being kept alive.