Only two of us, my wife and I, are now leading a simple, routine life almost everyday.  So easy-to-serve frozen jiaozi(dumpling) has long become the favorable fast food on our dinning table, and usually we would have it once or twice a week. 

You know, a dish of vinegar is one of the indispensable condiments to go with a feast of delicious jiaozi.  I'd had no preference for particular brand of vinegar until I tasted "鎮江香醋".  In early 80's my father often went to Hong Kong to see my youngest brother who was working there.  Every time my father would bring several bottles of the vinegar back to Taiwan.  (We were from Jiangsu Province, so he'd accustomed himself to the flavor of 鎮江醋 since childhood, and anything else was not his cup of tea.)  Several bottles?  Actually he poured the vinegar into a platstic containder and sealed the lid well; otherwise, he might have trouble when passing the custom at Taipei, for then was still the time of Three NOs: no contact, no talk, and no compromise.  My father said every time during inspection the custom agent would cast him a knowing smile.

Although time has changed, still I can hardly find 鎮江香醋 on the supermarket shelves in Taiwan.  Here in America, you can easily find the vinegar at any Chinese supermarket.  But there are two different brands with similar label.  The only difference is their English names: Chinkiang Vinegar and Zhenjiang Vinegar.  I don't know if they are from the same maunfacturer, but I do know the former one tastes better to me.