Dumplings were originally called "Jiao Er", and are said to have been first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, the sage of medicine during the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Legend has it that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing was the governor of Changsha, but he resigned from his post and returned to his hometown. Just in time for the winter solstice, he saw the people in Nanyang starving and freezing, with both ears frostbitten, at a time when typhoid was prevalent and a lot of people were dying of the disease. Summarizing the clinical practice of more than 300 years in the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing built a medical hut in the area, set up a cauldron, fried mutton, chili peppers and herbs to dispel cold and raise the heat, wrapped in dough in the shape of an ear, and gave it to the poor people with soup and food after it was boiled. The people ate the soup from the winter solstice to New Year's Eve, warding off the cold and curing the frozen ears.
From then on, people in the countryside and later generations copied the idea and called it "Dumpling Ears".
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How to cook dumplings:
First step: take a medium-sized pot, put in the right width of water, add some salt, and boil it on a high flame.
Step 2: Wait for the water to boil and then you can put down the dumplings. Hold the plate for the dumplings with one hand, pick up the dumplings with the other hand and put them into the pot, be careful not to let the water splash out and burn your hands. Don't put too many dumplings in the pot at once, just a plateful.
Step 3: Once all the dumplings are in the pot, use a wooden spatula to dig deep into the bottom of the pot and gently stir a few times to prevent some of the dumplings from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Then cover the pot and cook for about 20 seconds, whichever it takes for the water to boil again.
Step 4: At this point, when you open the lid, you can see that the dumplings are slightly floating, so once again, use a wooden spatula to dig deep into the bottom of the pot and gently stir the dumplings so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. This time you can add a little cold water into the pot, cover the lid and continue to cook until the water boils.
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