All the Dumplings a person can (or should) eat
I love my lists. A lot. I am working on eating all 1000 foods that Mimi Sheraton thinks I should eat, I try to eat the foods listed as the best things to eat when I visit a country like Laos (hence the Duck Blood Salad consumption). I just found a great posting from 2012 that CNN posted that lists the top 30 dumplings a person should eat so I am now adding another category to my blog. I am going to try to work my way through all 30. Good news is that I have eaten a few already. Another piece of good news, some of the below list are also in the 1000 Foods book (the ones with asterisks) and I am adding a few additional from Mimi….Yet another piece of good news is that there are some amazing dumplings not on lists below like the Kreplach dumpling you get in chicken soup from Miltons in Del Mar. To kick it off, I spent yesterday driving around San Diego gathering 5 of the dumplings listed below. Three I had never tried before and two not in the format described.
Bahn Bot Loc (14 below): These are Vietnamese dumplings that I purchased at Song Huong on Camino Ruiz. This provided to be an adventure as my initial order resulted in my getting a beef stir fry (delicious) but finally they figured out I wanted little tiny little banana leaf wrapped gelatinous dumplings that I took home to steam myself. I have a Chinese bamboo steamer and 30 minutes later I opened up the little packet and gave it a try. The taste is good-eaten with fish sauce-but I was not an overly big fan of the texture. This is, consistently a problem for me so I think for those who like Jell-O or chocolate mousse, these would be delicious.
Momo (19 below): These are Nepalese dumplings that are stuffed with a variety of meat and vegetables and served with a tomato dipping sauce. I ordered a vegetable, lamb and chicken mixed plate from Taste of the Himalayas on University Avenue. The interesting thing about these are the spices are an Indian-based taste so they do very much vary from a traditional Chinese dumpling. The other smells coming from this kitchen were amazing. I need to go back and order more than dumplings
Kimchi Mandu (17 below): These were, by far, my favorite new dumplings. I went to Ddburi on Convoy and ordered these, dumpling soup and a plate of fried dumplings. The soup and fried dumplings were good but the Kimchi dumplings were the star. The CNN article says these will convince you to both like kimchi and also dumplings and I agree, they will.
Samosa (24 below): I have had my share of samosas in my life but I have never had them from a reputable restaurant-they have always been the kind you buy at the grocery store and heat up at home. For the sake of the article, I went to my favorite Indian Restaurant (Delhi Kitchen on Carmel Mountain Road). I have been buying Chicken Tikka Masala, Naan and biriyani from this spot for over 10 years and I knew if anyone would have good samas as, they would. And they did. Crispy, moist inside and pleasantly seasoned.
Teochew fun gor (23 below): These are the most popular shrimp dumplings at dim sum restaurants. I have eaten them in every dim sum location I have ever eaten from Hong Kong to Toronto to Rancho Bernardo. Our most favorite spot is Jasmine on Convoy but for this article, I decide to try Jasmine Express where you buy the dumplings and take them home. This is a quick way to eat your favorite things without having to wait for a table! By far, of all the dumplings, this one has the thinnest skin and when I popped the shrimp Teochew fun gor into my mouth, I remembered why Chinese dim sum and these in particular are listed as #5 and 6 on Mimi Sheraton’s list.
CNN 30 Dumplings from Around the World
1. *Xiaolongbao
2. *Ravioli
3. Sichuan spicy wonton
4. *Manti
5. Bryndzové halušky
6. Siomay
7. Shrimp wonton
8. *Pierogi
9. Modak
10. Kartoffelknoedel
11. Pitepalt
12. *Pelmeni
13. Dim sim
14. Banh bot loc
15. Tangyuan
16. Chicken and dumplings
17. Kimchi mandu
18. Bawan
19. Momo
20. Uszka
21. Gyoza
22. Crab rangoon
23. Teochew fun gor
24. Samosa
25. Khinkali
26. Gnocchi
27. Daifuku
28. Amish apple dumpling
29. Svestkove knedily
30. Teochew fish dumpling
Mimi Sheraton List:
- Aspagussuppe
- Briks & Briouants
- Calas
- Canderli
- Dim Sum
- Har Gow
- Idli and Vaada
- In Nur Knodel
- Quenelles de brouchet
- Sheu Mai
