The Dumpling Song

 

Our daughter was born in China and so our family is Chinese American. We have tried to honor her culture and ensure she is involved in her culture and surrounded by people who look like her. Not always easy or comfortable, but it shouldn't be, right? SO incredibly important, and it has helped me understand on a deep level that representation matters. 

My daughter loves noodles; specifically, rice noodles. And dumplings. And rice. And more noodles. Last year we bought her a shirt that said, "This girl lives on Anime and noodles".  It was spot on! 

I don't remember where I first heard this dumpling song but when my daughter was little and we were making dumplings I learned it and then promptly forgot about it.  Fast forward to last year when I fell in love with the wonderful Miss Katie on instagram. She reminds me so much of Mr. Rogers and so thoughtfully and lovingly talks about difficult topics with littles. She works with preschool aged children and you can see how much she cares and spreads love and joy. 

Here is her video on the Dumpling Song:

包饺子(bāo jiǎozi) – Making Dumplings from echineselearning.

This is in Mandarin Chinese and here are the words - pinyin on top, Chinese characters in the middle, and English on the bottom:

Chǎo luóbo, chǎo luóbo, qiē qiē qiē, mǒ diǎn yóu, sǎ diǎn yán, huó  diǎn xiàn.
炒       萝卜，炒     萝卜，切  切  切，抹   点    油， 撒  点    盐，和     点    馅。
Stir-fry the carrots, stir-fry the carrots, and chop them up. Then add some oil and salt to make the stuffing.

Bāo jiǎozi, bāo jiǎozi, gǎn gǎn pí, gǎn hǎo miànpí zhuāng hǎo xiàn, bāo jiǎozi.
包    饺子，包   饺子，擀   擀   皮，擀  好     面皮     装       好   馅，  包   饺子。
Make dumplings, make dumplings. We roll the dough into the pieces. After that, we put the stuffing in to make the dumplings.

Bāo jiǎozi, bāo jiǎozi,  niē niē niē, fàng jìn guōlǐ gài gàizi,  zhǔ jiǎozi.
包    饺子，包   饺子，捏  捏  捏，放    进  锅里  盖  盖子，煮  饺子。
Make dumplings, make dumplings. Pinch them shut then put them into the pot. Close the lid and boil the dumplings.

Boil the dumplings, boil the dumplings. They smell good. Get everything ready to serve the dumplings and enjoy.Zhǔ jiǎozi, zhǔ jiǎozi, xiānɡ pēnpēn, duān shànɡ jiǎozi bèi hǎo liào, chī jiǎozi.
煮    饺子，煮  饺子，香     喷喷，     端      上     饺子  备   好   料，吃   饺子。

Pair this with Children's Literature: