MUZIChinese Matrix
Dumplings · FFET10156
Chengdu's Zhong dumplings: plain pork dumplings dressed in sweet spiced soy sauce, chili oil and garlic.
A white porcelain bowl holds seven plump boiled dumplings under red chili oil and dark sweet soy sauce, scattered with minced garlic and white sesame seeds, with a pair of chopsticks laid across the rim.
Boiled, steamed and pan-fried dumplings, wontons and other filled dough foods.
Zhong dumplings are a Chengdu snack: boiled dumplings filled with plain seasoned pork, dressed in sweet spiced soy sauce, chili oil and garlic. The old shop stood on Lizhi Lane and was originally called Lizhi Lane Red-Oil Dumplings; the flagship is now in People's Park. Accounts differ on the founding year and founder, and no dated primary text was found to resolve the discrepancy, so neither is established.
Zhong dumplings are boiled pork dumplings with seasoned pork and no vegetables in a 2022 review. They are dressed in sweet spiced soy sauce, chili oil, garlic and sesame, a seasoning combination also found in 3 recipes.3,5,6,7
Accounts differ on the founding year and founder. An article dated August 13, 2025 and another account give different years and names; without dated primary text to resolve the discrepancy, neither is established. 2 English-language recipes place the origin about 100 years ago without specifying a year.1,2,5,6,7
Chengdu. The old shop was on Lizhi Lane, later moved to Tidu Street, and the flagship is now near Ziwei Pavilion in People's Park.1
In 2 recipes, pork is mixed with ginger-and-pepper water into a loose paste, wrapped in half-moons and boiled, adding cold water a few times as the pot returns to a boil, then dressed in sweet soy sauce simmered from soy sauce, sugar and spices, plus chili oil.5,6,7
The old shop was originally called Lizhi Lane Red-Oil Dumplings, a name also recorded in a 2022 food review. Available accounts do not explain why this style developed, so its reasons remain unclear.1,3
A May 26, 2025 report from Sichuan notes packaged products from Zhong dumplings and other Chengdu snack brands, including Lai Tangyuan and Long Chaoshou.4
Legend has it that a family named Zhong ran a dumpling stall on Lizhi Lane, and people took to calling the dumplings by their family name. Who the family was and in which year they began are told differently in different accounts.
Told in: A Chengdu account, told in the Chengdu Bendibao article and in the introductions of two recipe authors. The details differ, and no dated primary text was found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home, in the Chengdu style: the pork is loosened with ginger-and-pepper water, the sweet soy sauce is simmered at home, and I use bought dumpling wrappers instead of rolling my own. The amounts and timings are my own choices at home, informed by three published recipes. They simmer the soy sauce for different times; I give it about 15 minutes, until slightly thick.
Allergens: wheat, soy, egg, sesame
