National Geographic Traveller (UK) - Food
RECIPE JOURNAL Dumplings
WHETHER STEAMED OR FRIED, SAVOURY OR SWEET, STUFFED OR UNSTUFFED, THE DUMPLING IS A DOUGHY DELICACY THAT’S AS VERSATILE AS IT IS DELICIOUS. WORDS: CHRISTIE DIETZ
From Norwegian bacon-stuffed potato klubb to the sweet kaimati found in East Africa, dumplings are enjoyed the world over. Their dough can be made from anything from stale bread to tapioca flour; they can be thick and chewy, fluffy and light or soft and supple with paperthin skins. Consider Cantonese shrimp-filled har gao, with their translucent, pleated wrappers; or bread-like Botswanan madombi, half-submerged in a hearty stew. Depending on where you are in the world, the dough might be stretched or moulded around a sweet or savoury filling or formed into unstuffed dumplings. They can even vary within a single cuisine — in Germany, for example, visitors can expect to find both steamed yeast dumplings stuffed with plum, as well as stodgy, spongy potato balls.
Dumplings are fried, baked, boiled or steamed; they’re eaten with fingers, forks, chopsticks and spoons; their fillings scooped out or slurped. They’re eaten plain, served with sauces and seasonings, or submerged in soups or stews. A popular option in Japanese ramen restaurants, gyoza are picked up with chopsticks and gently dipped into small bowls of sauce; Georgian soup dumplings (khinkali), meanwhile, are eaten using hands, the broth sucked out first before the filling and dough are enjoyed.
In some countries, dumplings are imbued with cultural significance. When eaten as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, for example, they symbolise wealth and good luck. Very often, of course, they’re simply a delicious bite to eat. And, with the term ‘dumpling’ being so loosely defined, there’s a whole world of foods out there — plump ravioli, crisp golden samosas, Brazilian pastéis — that could, in theory, be classified as dumplings.
The dumpling-making process ranges from simple and quick to fiddly and time-consuming, but creating your own can be rewarding and fun. Just be careful not to over (or under) fill them, and always keep a vigilant eye on cooking times.
Stuffed with spiced meat and/or vegetables, momos are pleated, steamed dumplings that are a staple in Indian city of Guwahati, where the food is strongly influenced by the cuisines of neighbouring Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. It’s important to avoid overkneading the dough. A bamboo steamer is needed for this recipe.
Kaspressknödel are round, flat, cheese dumplings from the Alpine region of western Austria. They’re made by forming bread crumbs and cubes of hard cheese into balls, which are pressed into patties and browned before being served with a salad or sauerkraut, or in a meat or onion broth. The latter makes for a fortifying lunch after a morning on the slopes or, in the case of this kaspressknödelsuppe, a wonderfully healing hangover cure.
Most likely dating back to the days of the Austrohungarian Empire, these fruit dumplings are eaten across much of Central and Eastern Europe.
Potato dough might seem an unusual choice for a sweet dish, however the mashed tubers add texture rather than taste, and the flavour comes from the fruit it encases. For this reason, it’s essential to use ripe and in-season, goodquality fruit. If decent plums aren’t available, give peaches or apricots a go. You could also try replacing them with two or three blackberries or pitted cherries per dumpling.
These roulade-style open dumplings were inspired by a visit to Pumpkin House (a ‘museum’ located in a private home in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent). The dough, rolled out so thinly that it’s almost see-through once steamed, is shaped to resemble the petals of a rose. Filled with seasoned pumpkin flesh, these pretty dumplings are best served with yoghurt and a piquant, red-hot sauce.