You know nothing about dumplings. Please accept that fact, it will be easier to understand what I'm about to tell you, because it wasn't easy for me to swallow my first time either. Americans know about as much about dumplings as we do about brain surgery. This is your crash coarse.
"Why do westerners always eat dumplings? It's like going to America and eating sandwiches at every meal." One of my Chinese co-workers said that to me my first month in Shanghai. But when you think about it, there are so many kinds of sandwiches. Beyond even the simple ham, turkey, tuna salad a sandwich connoisseur needs to decide baguette, pocket, wrap, roll, bagel before thinking about toasted or not, white vs. wheat and what condiments to add. The choices for sandwiches are seemingly endless. The same is true of dumplings.
Dumplings come in all shapes, sizes and tastes. Some dumplings are large, the size of your fist, where as some are small, just bigger across than a quarter. First you need to choose how your dumpling will be cooked: steamed, fried or boiled. Then you will certainly need to choose a filling - pork, vegetable, chicken, black bean, etc. Even just saying vegetable is too limiting because you can choose between bok choi and spinach. Of course from here the choices spin out of control in a tree like fashion, with choices to be made at every branch. Northern style or southern style? Served in a soup, or served on a plate? Should you dip them in vinegar, or vinegar with chili spice in it? I've even discovered dessert dumplings. The choices are limitless, and because my foreign little brain can't distinguish between them, I lump them all together and call them all dumplings - ordering is difficult because each type of dumpling has a different name, so there is no miracle phrase to remember.
"Why do westerners always eat dumplings? It's like going to America and eating sandwiches at every meal." One of my Chinese co-workers said that to me my first month in Shanghai. But when you think about it, there are so many kinds of sandwiches. Beyond even the simple ham, turkey, tuna salad a sandwich connoisseur needs to decide baguette, pocket, wrap, roll, bagel before thinking about toasted or not, white vs. wheat and what condiments to add. The choices for sandwiches are seemingly endless. The same is true of dumplings.
Dumplings come in all shapes, sizes and tastes. Some dumplings are large, the size of your fist, where as some are small, just bigger across than a quarter. First you need to choose how your dumpling will be cooked: steamed, fried or boiled. Then you will certainly need to choose a filling - pork, vegetable, chicken, black bean, etc. Even just saying vegetable is too limiting because you can choose between bok choi and spinach. Of course from here the choices spin out of control in a tree like fashion, with choices to be made at every branch. Northern style or southern style? Served in a soup, or served on a plate? Should you dip them in vinegar, or vinegar with chili spice in it? I've even discovered dessert dumplings. The choices are limitless, and because my foreign little brain can't distinguish between them, I lump them all together and call them all dumplings - ordering is difficult because each type of dumpling has a different name, so there is no miracle phrase to remember.The north is the best place for 'true' dumplings. Nearer to Russia and the great wheat fields, I can attest that northern places like Harbin have the best boiled dumplings (which is the cooking method Chinese think of when we say dumpling). As you get to the south, the dumplings become more often steamed or fried (but all 3 types are served widely all over China). Shanghai has its own special version of dumplings - xiao long bao, they're delicious.
Having slowed my dumping eating rate, I still have failed to master the names of all the delicious treats. I continue to find new dumpling restaurants and sort out new flavor combinations. Surprisingly, dumplings can be exceptionally healthy when boiled or steamed because there is no oil used in cooking them - the fried dumplings are a delicious heart attacking waiting to happen.
So there you have it, the many shapes and sizes of dumplings. If you come to Shanghai, you can experience for yourself the many tastes these morsels have to offer. In the meantime, I encourage to contemplate, when you're next eating a sandwich, that you're holding the dumplings cultural cousin. And as rare as dumplings are in Boston, sandwiches are in Shanghai. What I'd give for a steak and cheese sandwich right now...
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