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R E C I PE JOU RNAL Parcels of perfection


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


Shrimp-filled har gao dumplings


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 paper- thin 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.


NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/FOOD-TRAVEL 33


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