Xu Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Food (shí) Character: Jiao Kangxi Stroke Count: 15 Page 1419, Entry 01 Collected Rhymes (Jiyun) states it is pronounced jiao. It refers to a type of maltose-based food. Orthography Corrected (Zhengzitong) notes that the common term jiaozi currently refers to food made from crushed rice or wheat flour mixed with maltose, served either dry or in liquid, and varying in size. The food item known as boiled dumplings is the same as the foodstuff recorded by Duan Chengshi in the Tang Dynasty as meatballs in broth. It is also called fenjiao. Northern speakers pronounce the character for corner as jiao, leading to the term jiaoer (dumpling bait), which later evolved into jiaoer. However, dumplings do not strictly belong to the maltose food category, and jiao is not the correct pronunciation for the character.