Crystal Dumplings 水晶饺

Crystal Dumplings (水晶饺) are a Hakka snack of Miaoli County (苗栗县), Taiwan. The county's tourism site lists them among its representative Hakka snacks, describing a smooth skin around a tender meat filling.

Where it comes from

Miaoli's population is largely Hakka, and the county tourism site sums up Hakka cooking there as salty, fatty and fragrant (咸、肥、香). Hakka Radio (讲客广播电台) reports that Miaoli Hakka people in earlier times took crystal dumplings as their breakfast when they went out to work, because the dumplings were easy to pack and carry and kept them full.

How it is eaten

In the Hakka villages of northern Taiwan the dumplings are eaten with sauce added, which Hakka Radio contrasts with Tainan (台南), where the filling is already seasoned with a salty-sweet sauce and the dumplings are often used as temple offerings or eaten as a snack rather than as a working breakfast.