Over the course of the months we've been here, I've made a few unlikely Taiwanese friends.
Meet Sharon.
She and I met at a fruit stand in our local market in one of my weak moments, while I was struggling to understand, in my floundering Chinese, what the kind lady behind the stand was trying to communicate to me. Sharon stepped forward, and translated, and then proceeded to walk alongside me through the rest of the market, and invite me up to her husband's medical clinic for tea. I consented, and we've been friends ever since.
Meet Sharon.
She and I met at a fruit stand in our local market in one of my weak moments, while I was struggling to understand, in my floundering Chinese, what the kind lady behind the stand was trying to communicate to me. Sharon stepped forward, and translated, and then proceeded to walk alongside me through the rest of the market, and invite me up to her husband's medical clinic for tea. I consented, and we've been friends ever since.
Recently, Sharon invited me over to teach me the fine art of making jiǎozi 餃子, or the traditional Chinese dumplings. Jiǎozi typically consist of a ground meat and vegetable filling wrapped in a thinly rolled piece of dough. We started with ground pork, chopped lots of cabbage and other greens from the market, added a bit of ginger, and some small shrimps (I cringed a bit, as my stomach has just never made friends with seafood, but being as culturally saavy as I could, I bit my tongue).
Then, Sharon showed me how to fill the dough, add a touch of water, and pinch the dumplings tightly shut.
And a hour later, ta-da! Loads of freshly made jiǎozi ready for the freezer or my frying pan... or, as I did, both.
Are you hungry???
Very hungry! I've had homemade Chinese dumplings once, and it's a very strong, fond memory for me.
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