Jiangmao Dumplings 江毛水饺

Jiangmao Dumplings (江毛水饺) are a traditional food of Anqing (安庆), Anhui, described by the Anqing city government as a 'century-old brand' (百年老字号). A provincial news report on Anqing's snacks presents them as a product of the city's time as an important trading port on the Yangtze, when northern and southern food cultures met there.

How it is made

The wrappers are made from good-quality wheat flour that is kneaded, rolled and pressed over and over until the sheet is as thin as a cicada's wing but still elastic. A 2025 report by Anqing Normal University (安庆师范大学), whose students visited the Jiangmao Dumplings production workshop and spoke with the craft's inheritor, notes that the business now also makes several other flavours and uses modern production equipment while keeping the traditional flavour.

Flavour and texture

Each dumpling is shaped like a cat's ear, with a filling compared to a pearl and a skin as thin as paper. The broth they are served in is fresh-tasting and mellow.

Where it comes from

In 2023 Jiangmao Dumplings were one of two Anqing businesses named on Anhui's first list of provincial 'Hui cuisine leading enterprises' (徽菜龙头企业), a selection of 16 organised by five provincial departments, including commerce and culture and tourism. The Anqing Normal University students visited the dumplings as one of three examples of the city's intangible-heritage foods, with Baizhaoji (柏兆记) pastries and Huyumei (胡玉美) broad bean paste.