The Great 饺子 Disappointment

In China, I often had 饺子, or steamed dumplings, for breakfast. I had discovered an amazing 饺子 stand on my walk to school, and his 饺子 were often motivation for me to get out of bed on those cold, gray Beijing winter mornings. His 饺子 were nothing short of godly; I had tasted good 饺子 before but his were on a whole other level. (Yes, even better than the couple who sells 饺子 on the Beida campus!)

This morning, my mother offered to make me 饺子 for breakfast. Since we’ve all been out of town for the majority of the summer, the 饺子 she was offering was the frozen kind, purchased from a supermarket – all one had to do was heat them up and they’d be good to go. I knew that it wouldn’t be the greatest 饺子 in the world, but I still craved 饺子 so I had some. And… oh my. I knew they would be bad, at least in comparison to the 饺子 I had in China, but I just wasn’t aware of how much I would dislike them. After eating freshly steamed 饺子 all year, frozen, prepackaged 饺子 were hard to stomach! And to think – I used to actually like the frozen kind my mom buys!

Even before I went to China, I knew I was spoiled with Chinese food because my mom makes delicious homemade Chinese food all the time. But after a year in China, I’m going to be hard to find Chinese food up to my standards outside of my mother’s kitchen or a Chinatown!