In Greater Boston, what name did Joyce Chen use for jiaozi on menus?

In Greater Boston, Joyce Chen used the name “Peking Ravioli” for jiaozi on her menus. The playful label made a northern Chinese dumpling more familiar to local diners by comparing it with Italian ravioli.

Chen opened her first restaurant in Cambridge in 1958 and became an important figure in introducing northern Chinese and Shanghainese food to Boston. Her menus featured dishes such as Peking duck, moo shu pork, hot-and-sour soup, and potstickers. “Peking Ravioli” was her name for the dumplings, and customers often shortened it to “Ravs.”

The name does not mean that the dumplings originated in Peking, now usually called Beijing, nor that they are Italian pasta. Jiaozi are wheat-flour wrappers filled with ingredients such as pork, vegetables, or shrimp, and may be boiled, steamed, or pan-fried. Chen’s terminology became especially associated with Boston-area Chinese restaurants and remains a distinctive local food expression.