49 Fun Facts About Dumplings

Dim sum, the Cantonese meal of dumplings and small plates, is usually translated literally as what?

Touch the heart is the usual literal reading of the Cantonese words for 'dot' and 'heart'; teahouses used the term for the small bites served beside the tea, and those bites grew into a meal of their own.

Dumplings over 1,000 years old survived in desert tombs near Turfan, in which region of China?

Xinjiang's Astana tombs, near the oasis of Turfan, lie in ground so dry that food and even bodies dried out instead of rotting, which left Tang-era jiaozi intact.

Which US city's baseball team stages a race of runners in giant pierogi costumes at its home games?

Pittsburgh's Pirates run the Great Pierogi Race between innings; it was modelled on Milwaukee's racing sausages, and the two sets of mascots race each other when the teams meet.

In legend, the first jiaozi were made to treat what ailment, hence their old name?

Frostbitten ears were the target: the physician Zhang Zhongjing is said to have wrapped stewed lamb and warming herbs in ear-shaped dough for the poor one winter, and the dish took the old name jiao'er, "tender ears".

Jiaozi symbolise wealth because they resemble what?

Gold and silver ingots, the boat-shaped sycee (yuanbao) that served as money in imperial China, are what jiaozi resemble, which is why northern families eat them at New Year.

The Western term 'potsticker' derives from which Chinese word?

Guotie (锅贴) literally means "pot stick"; potstickers are jiaozi pan-fried until the bottoms crisp and stick, then steamed with a splash of water.

Gyoza reached Japan mainly through what event?

Settlers returning after WWII, Japanese colonists repatriated from Manchuria with a taste for jiaozi, opened food stalls serving them beside ramen, and Utsunomiya became famous for gyoza.

Jiaozi are traditionally served with a dip of soy sauce and what?

Black vinegar and soy sauce make the classic jiaozi dip, and cooks stir in garlic, ginger, sesame oil or hot sauce to taste; gyoza in Japan swap in rice vinegar and chili oil.

What does the name xiaolongbao literally mean?

Little basket bun is the literal sense: xiaolong is the small bamboo steamer basket they are cooked in, and bao means bun.

The best-known style of xiaolongbao outside China is associated with which city?

The Nanxiang style from Shanghai, named for a town in the city's Jiading district, is the one known worldwide; nearby Suzhou and Wuxi make larger, sweeter versions.

Which Taipei-born chain pleats every xiaolongbao with exactly 18 folds?

Din Tai Fung opened in 1958 selling cooking oil; when tinned oil hit the trade around 1970, founder Yang Bing-yi turned to xiaolongbao, now famous for their 18 folds.

Which studio made Bao, the Oscar-winning 2018 short about a lonely mother whose dumpling comes to life?

Pixar's Bao, by Toronto-raised Domee Shi, was the studio's first short directed by a woman; the mother raises the bun as a son, and the film played before Incredibles 2 and won the Oscar for animated short.

The Cantonese name for wontons, wantan, means what?

Cloud swallow is the literal sense of the characters 雲吞, a Cantonese rendering of the Mandarin huntun; the cooked dumplings float in broth like small clouds.

In Sichuan, wontons are known as chao shou, meaning what?

Folded arms is the meaning of chao shou (抄手): the wrapper is folded into a triangle and its two ends pressed together like crossed arms, often served in chili oil.

Har gow is a dim sum dumpling filled with what?

Shrimp fills har gow, whose wrapper turns translucent when steamed, hence the name crystal shrimp dumpling; a dim sum chef's skill is said to be judged on its thin skin and neat pleats.

Har gow, shumai, cha siu bao and egg tarts are known collectively as what in dim sum?

The Four Heavenly Kings is the nickname for the four dishes counted as the classics of Cantonese dim sum; it borrows the title of the four guardian kings whose hall stands in Chinese Buddhist temples.

Shumai evolved into which snack in Australia?

Dim sim grew out of shumai: William Chen Wing Young began producing a bigger, thicker-skinned version in Melbourne in the 1940s, and it is now sold steamed or deep-fried in fish-and-chip shops.

Baozi differ from most dumplings in that their dough is what?

Yeast-leavened dough gives baozi their fluffy, bread-like bite, unlike the thin unleavened wrappers of jiaozi or wontons; they are the filled cousin of the plain northern steamed bun.

Zongzi, sticky-rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves, are eaten on which occasion?

Dragon Boat Festival, or Duanwu, falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and zongzi wrapped in bamboo leaves are its signature food.

Which poet's drowning in the Miluo River is commemorated with zongzi?

Qu Yuan, the Chu statesman-poet, drowned himself in the Miluo River in 278 BC; legend says his ghost asked that the rice offerings be sealed in leaves and tied with coloured thread so river creatures could not steal them.

Tangyuan, glutinous rice balls in syrup, are traditionally eaten on which occasion?

Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, is tangyuan's day; the name echoes tuanyuan, 'reunion', so they also appear at weddings and the winter solstice.

What are dumplings called in Korean cuisine?

Mandu is the Korean word; long a dish of the royal court, the dumplings now fill supermarkets and snack bars, steamed, pan-fried or boiled in beef broth as manduguk.

Momos are steamed dumplings from the cuisines of Nepal and which other place?

Tibet and Nepal both claim the momo; it is unclear which side of the Himalaya it came from first, and it is now popular in Bhutan, Bangladesh and India too.

Kayseri mantısı, tiny dumplings served under yoghurt and spiced butter, are a speciality of which country?

Turkey's Kayseri mantısı are named for a city in central Anatolia; Turkic horsemen are thought to have carried the dumpling west from Central Asia along the Silk Road.

Buuz, steamed dumplings made in batches for the Tsagaan Sar new year, belong to which country?

Mongolia's families spend days before Tsagaan Sar, the 'White Moon' festival, folding buuz together; khuushuur are the deep-fried cousin and bansh the small boiled one.

Khinkali, twisted knobs of dough stuffed with meat, come from which country?

Georgia is khinkali's home; they come from its eastern mountains, and the tough top knot is left on the plate so diners can count how many they have eaten.

Pelmeni are considered a national dish of which country?

Russia adopted pelmeni as a staple during its expansion into the Urals and Siberia; the name comes from the Komi and Udmurt words for 'ear bread'.

Varenyky are the emblematic dumplings of which country?

Ukraine counts varenyky among its most emblematic dishes; the name comes from the verb varyty, 'to boil', and the dough is thinner and softer than that of Polish pierogi.

Cepelinai, potato dumplings named after German Zeppelin airships, are a national dish of which Baltic country?

Lithuania's cepelinai were once called didžkukuliai; the grated-potato dumplings, stuffed with meat or curd cheese, were renamed in honour of Count Zeppelin, whose airships they resemble.

What does the 'ruskie' in pierogi ruskie actually mean?

Ruthenian is the sense: ruskie refers to Red Ruthenia, the old Rus' borderland that Poland absorbed in the 14th century, and not to the country many foreigners assume.

Kreplach are traditionally served in what?

Chicken soup is the traditional vehicle for kreplach, eaten before the Yom Kippur fast and at Purim, when the filling hidden in the dough is said to echo the hidden nature of the Purim miracle.

Matzah balls are a staple of which Jewish holiday?

Passover is when matzah balls (knaidlach) come into their own, since they are made from matzah meal, eggs, water and fat rather than leavened flour, which is forbidden during the holiday.

What goes into a Semmelknödel, the classic Central European dumpling?

Dried white bread, milk and egg yolks form the base: stale rolls (Semmeln) are soaked in warm milk, bound with egg and often onion and parsley, then shaped and simmered.

Maultaschen, protected by the EU, come from which German region?

Swabia is the home of Maultaschen, an EU-protected name; one tale has the monks of Maulbronn wrapping meat in pasta to hide it from God in Lent, hence the nickname 'little God-cheaters'.

Ravioli appear under the name 'rauioles' in which 14th-century cookbook?

The Forme of Cury, compiled around 1390 by the master cooks of Richard II, lists "rauioles", showing how early the stuffed pasta had travelled to England.

Tortellini are typical of Bologna and which other Emilia-Romagna city?

Modena shares the claim with Bologna; a later legend set tortellini's invention at Castelfranco Emilia, a town between the two rivals, as a compromise.

In the best-known legend, tortellini copy whose navel, glimpsed through a keyhole?

Venus, in the best-known telling, stayed at an inn in Castelfranco Emilia; the innkeeper peeped through the keyhole, saw only her navel, and shaped pasta in its image.

At which point in an Italian meal are gnocchi usually eaten?

As a primo, or first course, gnocchi stand in for soup or pasta, so they reach the table before the meat or fish; some cooks also serve them as a side dish.

Which sweet dumpling is a favourite of the god Ganesha and offered at Ganesh Chaturthi?

Modak, a rice-flour dumpling filled with coconut and jaggery, is so tied to Ganesha that one of his Sanskrit names is Modakapriya, 'he who likes modak'; the puja often ends with an offering of 21.

The name empanada comes from a Spanish word meaning what?

Breaded, or wrapped in bread, is the sense of empanar, the Spanish verb behind empanada; the turnover is thought to have begun in Galicia, in north-west Spain, where it is still festival and pilgrimage food.

Apple dumplings are considered a cultural staple around which US state?

Pennsylvania, especially its Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch country, treats the apple dumpling as a staple: a whole peeled apple is wrapped in dough, its core filled with cinnamon, butter and sugar.

What kind of dumpling goes into American chicken and dumplings?

Biscuit dough, dropped by the spoonful into simmering chicken stew, makes the dumplings; the comfort food is associated with the American South and Midwest.

Unlike the suet dumplings made elsewhere in England, what sets the Norfolk dumpling apart?

It contains no fat: the Norfolk dumpling is made only from flour and a raising agent, and locals call it a 'swimmer' because a well-made one is said to rise to the top of the pot.

Which filling goes into the Polish dumplings called pierogi ruskie?

Potato and curd cheese (twaróg) fill pierogi ruskie; pierogi run so deep in Poland that they have a patron saint, and 'St Hyacinth and his pierogi!' is a cry of surprise.

Which skewered Japanese rice dumpling has its own three-coloured emoji?

Dango come three to five on a skewer; the emoji's pink, white and green one is linked with cherry-blossom viewing season, and a proverb, 'dango rather than flowers', means choosing the practical over the pretty.

Momos are commonly served with a dipping sauce known by what name?

Achar, the spicy pickle or chutney of Nepali kitchens, is the standard momo dip; cooks also drown the dumplings in a thin spiced sauce to make jhol momo.

Uszka, tiny mushroom-filled dumplings, float in which soup at a Polish Christmas Eve supper?

Borscht, in a clear meatless Christmas Eve version, is the classic home for uszka; the mushrooms boiled for the broth are saved to fill the dumplings.

Why is Cantonese cooking's wonton the style most often seen in the West?

Its restaurants predominate overseas: Cantonese emigrants ran most Chinese restaurants in Western countries until the late 20th century, so their wonton became the one diners abroad met first.

What puts the soup inside a xiaolongbao, or soup dumpling?

Jellied stock that melts when steamed is the trick: cooks wrap set meat aspic in with the filling, and refrigeration made the dumplings far easier to produce in hot weather.