Dumpling
A dumpling may be any of a wide variety of dishes, both sweet and savoury, in several different cuisines. They are either made from balls of dough or are small parcels of food encased in pastry, dough, batter or leaves.Jiaozi (餃子) is a Chinese dumpling, which consists of meat and minced vegtables wrapped into a piece of dough. Popular meat fillings include shrimp, ground lamb, ground pork, ground beef, and even fish. Dumplings are usually steamed or boiled. If they are fried, they are called pot stickers. Compared to wontons, jiaozis have a thicker skin and are longer.
Rice dumplings or zòngzi (粽子) are a traditional Chinese food. Glutinous rice is used to fill a parcel made from dried lotus or bamboo leaves. The parcles are steamed for several hours to cook the rice, and when unwrapped they retain their shape. The dumplings may be eaten plain with syrup, or the rice is flavoured with meat and vegetables or mashed beans before cooking.
Fried Japanese dumplings made from octopus dipped in batter are known as akashi no tamagoyaki, or when flavoured with pickled ginger, konyaku, leek and other ingredients, as takoyaki.
Savoury dumplings made from balls of dough are part of traditional British cuisine, and make up a filling meal in winter. The simplest dumplings are made from twice the weight of self raising flour to suet, bound together by cold water to form a dough. Balls of this dough are dropped into a bubbling pot of stew or soup, or into a casserole. They sit, partly submerged in the stew, and expand as they are half-boiled half-steamed for ten minutes or so. The cooked dumplings are airy on the inside and moist on the outside. The dough may be simply flavoured with salt, pepper and herbs, or the dough balls may have a filling such as cheese pressed into their centre.
Other British dumplings call for the addition of breadcrumbs and cheese, and the balls of dough may be rolled in breadcrumbs and fried, rather than cooked in a soup or stew.
These dough dumplings, when sweetened and made with dried fruit and spices can be boiled in water to make a quick dessert.
The baked dumpling is popular in the United States. These sweet dumplings are made by wrapping fruit, frequently a whole tart apple, in pastry, then baking until the pasty is browned and the filling is tender. As an alternative to simply baking them, these dumplings are surrounded by a sweet sauce in the baking dish, and may be basted during cooking. Popular flavours for apple dumplings include brown sugar, caramel, or cinnamon sauces.
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