Cognomina Chaos

In Part I, I spent some time telling you how 餛飩 húndùn “wonton” is really just a mispronunciation of “yummy chaos clouds”. ^.~

In this post, I really want to get into the meat of it (haha XD) and show you why there’s a meta connection between the words 餛飩 and “chaos”. Not to put too fine a point on it, there’s just a chaotic confusion of cognomina†, or names, that has arisen because of the intersections of Chinese and English‡ (and their back-and-forth translations) about this kind of food.

Are you ready for this? You might want to strap in. ‘^^ Tally-ho!

~

Right. So for those who are unfamiliar with the dish, I have defined 餛飩 húndùn as a kind of soup with “Chinese dumplings” (either alone or with noodles) — because “Chinese dumplings” is probably a term that most people (at least, most people likely to be reading this blog ‘^^) have at least heard of, even if they’ve never heard of “wonton”. And, well, 餛飩 do fit the general description of “individual lumps of filling (usually meat) wrapped in dough skins, originating from China”. Since that description is quite the mouthful (XD), we just say, “Chinese dumplings”, yeah?

But, alas, it’s probably more accurate, in fact, to call 餛飩, “individual Chinese-style, dumpling-esque, dough-wrapped lumps of meat (in soup)” — which, alas, is still quite the mouthful. ‘^^

For one thing, 餛飩 are a very different thing from what is meant by “dumplings”. If you say “dumplings” in English, what you’re actually referring to is 餃子 jiǎozi.

Now, the word 餃子 jiǎozi is actually a categorical term, just like “dumplings” is actually a category of all sorts of dough-filled deliciousness. ^.~ To get specific on what kind of dumplings you’re talking about, you have to specify the cooking method. For instance, the kind of 餃子 jiǎozi that are boiled are called 水餃 shuǐjiǎo “water dumplings”.

Steamed ones are 蒸餃 zhēngjiǎo “steam dumplings”. And (pan-)fried dumplings are 煎餃 jiānjiǎo “(pan-)fry dumplings”.

Except when they’re not. XD

Because there are these things called 鍋貼 guōtiē “pot stickers” — which, appropriately enough, are known as “potstickers” in English — that are also fried in a pan . . . but that are not the aforementioned pan-fried dumplings known as 煎餃 jiānjiǎo. Go figure. XD (The two types differ predominantly in shape and cooking method. There’s more than one way both to fold dough and to pan-fry, after all.)

Notice how neither 餃子 jiǎozi (of any variety) nor 鍋貼 guōtiē is a soup dish. Just as an English speaker doesn’t tend to associate soup with the word “dumplings” (when it’s referred to as a dish in and of itself, as in “let’s have dumplings”), 餃子 jiǎozi are not thought of as a soup dish, either. And 餛飩 húndùn “wonton”, remember, usually are put in soup.

But it gets tricky because there are dishes that combine dumplings and soup! For instance, put Chinese dumplings, or 餃子 jiǎozi (usually 水餃 shuǐjiǎo), in soup, and you get . . . well, “Chinese dumpling soup”. =P In Chinese, that dish is called 湯餃 tāngjiǎo, which, unfortunately, when translated directly into English, means “soup dumplings” (湯 tāng “soup” + 餃 jiǎo “dumplings”), rather than “dumpling soup”. >_<

To make it even more confusing, there is, actually, a dish called “soup dumplings” in English (again, not 湯餃 tāngjiǎo). “Soup dumplings” in English are actually 小籠包 xiǎo lóng bāo “small basket bundles”, which are not put in soup at all but are, rather, steamed. XD In fact, they’re “small basket bundles” precisely because they’re small dough-filled meat bundles cooked in classic Chinese bamboo steam baskets.

But didn’t I say earlier that 蒸餃 zhēngjiǎo are steamed dumplings (蒸 zhēng “steam” + 餃 jiǎo “dumplings”) . . . ?

Ummm, yes. Yes, I did. ‘^^ But, as with 煎餃 jiānjiǎo “(pan-)fried dumplings” and 鍋貼 guōtiē “pot stickers”, the names of things, especially in translation, do not always give one the whole picture.

Which is why this post has, well, pictures! XD

By the way, there is an entire smorgasbord of dishes steamed in that same style of bamboo basket that could also be called “Chinese-style, dumpling-esque, dough-wrapped lumps of meat”, but that have only a passing resemblance to 小籠包 xiǎo lóng bāo. Those are part of a larger category of food known collectively in English as dim sum, or dim sim (from Cantonese dim² sam¹ [點心]), which also include non–Chinese dumpling–style foods, such as seafood and desserts.

To make matters worse, going in the other direction (i.e., Chinese to English), the word 點心 diǎn xīn “small heart”, but usually translated as “snacks” (though, arguably, a better translation would be something like “small side dishes”) in English, are so named because they “touch or refresh the heart” and are what one might imagine as the Chinese equivalent to, say, British afternoon tea refreshments. They’re not really conceived of as any particular category of “dumpling”, steamed, souped, or otherwise.

Anyways! Back to the specific kind of Chinese dumplings known as 小籠包 xiǎo lóng bāo:

小籠包 xiǎo lóng bāo are called “soup dumplings” in English because their insides are full of soup. Each one is like a tiny dough delivery vehicle of hot soup, each carrying a meat bundle inside. And in fact you have to be really careful when eating this kind of fresh-from-the-basket Chinese dumpling because you may very well scald yourself when you bite into one. Once the dumpling skin splits, a burst of hot soup will splash directly into your mouth — ouch! (I’ve totes never burned my tongue like this. Never. Ahem.)

So, yes, those are “soup dumplings”. But, while absolutely delicious, these kinds of soupy dumplings are also not 餛飩 húndùn. ‘^^

Quick recap:

餃子 jiǎozi = dumplings (not in soup)
湯餃 tāngjiǎo = dumpling soup
小籠包 xiǎo lóng bāo = soup dumplings
點心 diǎn xīn = not just (not-in-soup) dumplings
餛飩 húndùn = faux dumplings (in soup)

Just kidding.

餛飩 húndùn = wonton

But wait! “Wonton”, just like “dumplings”, can also be cooked in different ways, so even translating 餛飩 húndùn as “wonton” (rather than “dumplings”) can still be a bit misleading without some further nuance.

Again, the word 餛飩 húndùn usually refers to the kind of wonton that’s specifically found in soup. It’s not the dry kind of wonton.

But neither is the dry kind of wonton actually dry. XD

Like their soupy siblings (i.e., 餛飩 húndùn proper), “dry” wonton are also boiled and arrive at the table still quite moist. They’re served not with broth — hence, the “dry” part —, but usually with chili oil sauce (and sometimes sesame paste). Those are actually called 抄手 chāoshǒu “folded arms” — so named because of the way the skins are folded, though their eponymous shape is hard to see once they’re cooked. (The full name of that dish, by the way, is 紅油抄手 hóngyóu chāoshǒu, or what English speakers might call “red [chili] oil wonton” or “wonton in [red] chili oil”, and hails from 四川 Sìchuan “Sichuan”.)

But wait (again XD)! There is a kind of “wonton” that is completely dry — so dry, they’re crisp! —, and that’s the deep-fried kind. That kind is called “rangoon” (e.g., “cheese rangoon” or “crab rangoon“), or sometimes “crispy wonton”, and is, to my knowledge, found only in American Chinese restaurants — and is almost certainly not Chinese in origin but American.

Those are not 餛飩 húndùn, either. Remember: soup!

And yet. . . .

What go by the name of “wonton” (which, to be fair, is served in broth) that many American Chinese restaurants make for their non-Chinese patrons, we shall not dignify with the appellation of 餛飩 húndùn either — because . . . well, because they’re just not. >_<

So, no, while I would say that soup is a key component of 餛飩, it’s not merely the soup that makes 餛飩 餛飩.

As you can probably tell, I am quite snobby have fine, discerning tastes when it comes to 餛飩 húndùn. For instance, the best 餛飩 húndùn in the world — by all objective measures — is, of course, the kind made by my mom. Of course. There’s just no dispute there. =P

The second best, though, is — in my oh-so-humble opinion — a tie between two very different types: 珍珠餛飩 zhēnzhū húndùn “pearl wonton” (which are, as the name implies, pearl-like and made with super thin skins), like so:

. . . and 大餛飩 dà húndùn “large wonton” (which are, as their name implies, quite a bit larger, each piece stuffed with basically an entire meatball’s worth of filling — yum!).

And there you have it. 餛飩 húndùn in a nutshell. Er, bowl. XD

(Whew! Did you have any idea that so seemingly simple a topic as “a kind of Chinese dumplings” could be so complicated? I told you it would be chaos! XD Are you like “@_@” yet?

Wow, I’m hungry. ‘^^ Gee, I wonder what I should eat . . . ? Oh, I know! How ’bout some yummy chaos clouds? XD)

†I would apologise for this appalling alliteration, but I’m afraid I can only compound my cheekiness with even more atrocious awesome assonance! =P

‡Here I am generalising from Taiwanese Mandarin and American English, which is the only Chinese and English (see footnote in Part I), respectively, I can speak — be it ever so poorly. ‘^^