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Xiaolongbao
Image: K.Y.
Cheng/South China Morning Post/Getty Images
Served steamed in bamboo
baskets, xiaolongbao look different from other types of Chinese dumplings, as
the skin is gathered and pinched at the top instead of folded in half. Xiaolongbao
are also unique in that aside from the traditional pork filling, a small piece
of aspic is folded into the dumpling, which melts when steamed. Thanks to the
broth, the filling stays moist and flavorful.
Ravioli
Image: svariophoto/Shutterstock
Ravioli is one of Italy’s most
famous offerings - so famous that it has been exported across the world. It can
be packed with anything from meat to cheese to vegetables, or any combination
thereof.
Sichuan spicy wonton (chao shou)
Image: Adobe
Stock
The spicy Sichuan wonton,
or chao shou, comes to the table drenched in a spicy chili oil flavored
with Sichuan peppercorn and a black vinegar sauce. The chao shou is
boiled and the very best specimens are so slippery they're nearly impossible to
pick up with chopsticks.
Manti
Image: phanira/Shutterstock
Manti are Central Asia's take on East Asian
dumplings eaten in Turkey, northwestern China, Azerbaijan and
Kazakhstan. Adopted by Turks who traveled across Central Asia during the Mongol
Empire, these dumplings can be filled with lamb, beef, quail or chicken - or be
left unfilled. Turkish manti are served with yogurt and spiced with red pepper
and melted butter.
Bryndzové halušky
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Stock
Bryndzové halušky
is a national dish in Slovakia and is a dish of potato dumplings
served with bryndza, a Slovakian sheep's cheese, and sprinkled with bacon or
pork fat.
Siomay
Image: Lisa
Wiltse/Corbis News/Getty Images
Siomay is closely
related to the Cantonese dim sum snack, shumai. A steamed fish dumpling served
with vegetables and peanut sauce was adopted from Chinese Indonesian
cuisine. The best way to sample these dumplings is from a street vendor carting
a steamer on his bicycle.
Shrimp wonton
Image: South
China Morning Post/Getty Images
The Hong Kong-style shrimp
wonton is a thick dumpling holding shrimp and minced pork. It's commonly served
with thin egg noodles or on its own in a seafood broth.
Pierogi
Image: Beata
Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Originating in Central and
Eastern Europe, pierogi are most commonly thought of as Polish. These dumplings
can be stuffed with potato, minced meat, cheese, fruit or sauerkraut. They're
usually boiled, then pan-fried in butter with onions.
Modak
Image: Kalpak
Pathak/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
Modak is a sweet from
Maharashtra, offered to Lord Ganesha during Ganesh Chathurthi, the festival
dedicated to him every year between August and September. The teardrop-shaped dumpling is
kneaded from rice flour and stuffed with coconut and jaggery - an unrefined
whole cane sugar.
Dushbara
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Stock
Dushbara are
classic Azerbaijani comfort food. These dumplings are filled with
lamb or beef, and usually served in broth. They are folded by hand, a process made more difficult by their small
size. Vinegar and garlic sauce tops it off with an extra kick.
Kartoffelknoedel
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Stock
Found across Germany,
kartoffelknoedel, or potato dumplings, usually accompany meat dishes. The
Bavarian variant combines both raw and cooked potato, stuffed with a crouton or
bread filling.
Coxinha
Image: Adobe
Stock
This is a popular street food
in Brazil: effectively chicken dumplings, made from fried dough with shredded
chicken in the middle. They're shaped in the form of a teardrop, supposedly to
resemble a chicken thigh - the dish was originally made from thigh meat. Some
add potato to the dough before frying, for an extra carby oomph.
Pelmeni
Image: Gourmet-Vision/imageBROKER/Shutterstock
Pelmeni are Russian dumplings
from Siberia, likely introduced to Russian cuisine by the Mongols. Similar
to Chinese jiaozi, Turkish manti and eastern European pierogi, pelmeni are
distinguished by the thickness of the dumpling skin. Pelmeni may be stuffed
with anything from meat to mushrooms to cheese, but never with anything sweet.
Dim sim
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Media/Getty Images
Some dumpling purists say that
the Australian dim sim is merely a bastardized version of Chinese dumplings. Dim
sim is a combination of meat or fish mixed with cabbage and enclosed in a
wrapper. It may be steamed, deep-fried or barbecued, and is usually much larger
than a Chinese dumpling. Dim sims usually taste gingery - a feature of
westernized Chinese cuisine found in Australia, North America and Europe.
Brik
Image: Adobe
Stock
Brik is a
spectacularly gooey Tunisian specialty. The word "brik" is
thought to derive from Turkish, but this is a thoroughly Tunisian dumpling, a
deep-fried triangle of deliciousness, often with an egg popped inside for extra
gooey flavor. It can be filled with tuna, harissa and parsley, or anything from
capers to cheese and meat.
Banh bot loc
Image: Gerald
Martineau/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Banh bot loc are Vietnamese pork
and shrimp dumplings, with wrappers made from tapioca flour. When cooked,
tapioca flour becomes clear, giving the dumpling its appearance and the wrapper
its chewy texture. There are two major variants: wrapped in banana leaves and
steamed, or boiled.
Empanada
Image: Adobe
Stock
An empanada is pastry stuffed
with meat, fish or other fillings, then baked or fried. In Argentina, the
traditional fillings depend on where you are - olives are often worked into the
filling in Mendoza, for example. Usually, though, you'll have a choice of meat -
chicken and beef are classics.
Tangyuan
Image: Peng
hua/Imaginechina/AP
Tangyuan is a Chinese dessert -
sticky balls made from glutinous rice flour containing a sweet filling, such as
ground peanuts or black sesame paste, and served in a bowl of sweet soup or
rolled in ground peanuts. Tangyuan
is a favorite treat during the traditional Lantern Festival. Some tangyuan are served as smaller, unfilled rice balls in a soup
made from cane sugar. In dessert shop chains all over Hong Kong, tangyuan
are served with ice cream, topped with a drizzle of syrup.
Chicken and dumplings
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Stock
Chicken and dumplings is
probably the ultimate in Southern comfort food in the United States. Chicken soup is a dish found all over the world, but the addition
of dumplings gives the soup an extra something. American dumplings are usually
a mix of flour, vegetable shortening and milk - in this case, dropped directly
into the chicken broth. The broth may be a clear chicken soup, or thickened
with flour or cream.
Kimchi mandu
Image: Jonathan
Wong/South China Morning Post/Getty Images
Mandu, the Korean take
on dumplings, are more closely related to manti found in Central Asian cuisine than
to Chinese or Japanese dumplings. Mandu are stuffed with kimchi and are often
folded into circular shapes, a technique rarely found in Chinese cuisine.
Canederli
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Stock
Canederli are golf ball-sized
dumplings made from bread, stuffed with things like speck (a type of cured
ham), cheese and onion. Italians flock
to Alto Adige for traditional canederli.
Bawan
Image: RomixImage/Adobe
Stock
Bawan is a Taiwanese street
snack commonly found in night markets around the island. A translucent wrapper made from
rice flour, corn starch and sweet potato starch holds a stuffing of pork,
bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Bawan is served with a sweet and savory sauce. The
dumplings are steamed, then deep-fried to keep the wrapper from drying out.
Momo
Image: Deb
Lindsey For The Washington Post/Getty Images
Momo are dumplings found in
northern Indian, Nepali and Tibetan cuisine. They may be filled with meat,
vegetables or cheese, and are usually served with a tomato-based dipping sauce.
Enterprising Nepali vendors in Kathmandu have also taken to filling
momos with Snickers and Mars bars, especially in areas frequented by tourists.
Uszka
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Stock
Uszka are similar to Polish
pierogi and are usually
served in soup. The word "uszka" means "little
ears" in Polish. They're usually filled with minced meat and mushrooms and
put in borscht soup. Uszka stuffed with bolete mushrooms and chopped onions
without meat are served in clear borscht for Christmas Eve meals in Poland.
Gyoza
Image: Natasha
Breen/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Related to Chinese pot
stickers, Japanese gyoza tend to be made with thinner wrappers and
filled with minced pork. Frozen gyoza are found in most grocery stores all over
the world, but the best restaurants for gyoza always turn out to be
holes-in-the-wall outside of Tokyo subway stations.
Crab rangoon
Image: Modesto
Bee/Tribune News Service/MCT/Getty Images
Found on Chinese takeout menus
in the United States, crab rangoon are deep-fried dumplings served as a side
dish. They're stuffed with cream cheese and imitation crab meat made from a
fish-based paste. It may not be an authentic Chinese dish, but love of fried
cheese crosses cultures.
Teochew fun gor
Image: Adobe
Stock
Not your typical pork-filled
dumpling, the Teochew fun gor is usually packed with peanuts, chives, dried
shrimp, pork, radish, mushrooms and cilantro. The wrapper is made of a
combination of wheat flour, tapioca flour, corn starch and potato starch,
giving the fun gor its translucent appearance. Teochew fun gor is most popular
in Cantonese dim sum restaurants.
Samosa
Image: Deb
Lindsey for the Washington Post/Getty Images
Usually triangular in shape,
samosas are a deep-fried snack popular in south and southeast Asia. They may be
filled with a variety of stuffings, including potato, onions, peas, lentils and
ground lamb.
Khinkali
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Images
Straddling Eastern
Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, it's not surprising that
Georgia has its own dumpling. The khinkali resembles the xiaolongbao. It's
formed by gathering the pleats of the wrapper at the top and stuffed with spiced
beef and pork. Khinkali are usually served with coarse ground black pepper.
Gnocchi
Image: Jonathan
Wiggs/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
Gnocchi are small, thick
pasta shapes that can be made from semolina flour, potato, flour, eggs, cheese,
or a combination of the lot. They originated in northern Italy, though are
eaten throughout the country today, with recipes varying from region
to region. Gnocchi are prepared like other pasta dishes, and may be served in
tomato-based sauces, pesto sauces or with any other sauce you might find on
pasta.
Daifuku
Image: John S
Lander/LightRocket/Getty Images
Duty-free shops in Japanese
airports are packed with what look like mountains of pre-wrapped boxes of Japanese
treats. Many of these boxes actually contain daifuku. They are a type of
mochi (glutinous rice cakes), only they're stuffed, usually with sticky-sweet
red azuki. Daifuku are popular as gifts in Japan, specialty stores that
create a dazzling array of varieties move countless boxes over holiday periods.
Amish apple dumpling
Image: DiAnna
Paulk/Adobe Stock
The apple dumpling is popular
across the United States, and common among the Amish, especially in and
around Pennsylvania. A peeled and cored apple is stuffed with cinnamon and
sugar, then wrapped in a piece of dough and baked until the apple becomes
tender. The pairing of the apple dumpling, fresh from the oven, with a scoop of
vanilla ice cream on top makes for a divine dessert.
Ravioli del plin
Image: Paolo
Bernardotti/Adobe Stock
Every region of Italy produces
its own filled pasta, of course, but these, from southern Piedmont, are
particularly prized. Much smaller than regular ravioli - they're barely bigger
than Bolognese tortellini - they're filled with either a meat mix (which often
includes rabbit) and served with a glaze of meaty sauce, or contain a vegetable
mix, often cabbage with rice. As well as being small in size, the pasta is also
rolled super thin, so the dumplings seem to melt in the mouth. "Plin"
isn't the place where they came from; the word derives from a local dialect
word for "pinch," as the pockets are pinched together by hand.
Shish barak
Image: Adobe
Stock
This is the ultimate Lebanese
comfort food: lamb dumplings, similar to manti, and served drenched in yoghurt -
usually goat, rather than cow, to give the flavor a bit more bang. The lamb is
mixed with pine nuts and spices before being wrapped in the dough, and
slow-cooked in the yoghurt with water. It's labor-intensive - requiring
constant stirring, to keep the consistency.
Ashak
Image: Julia
Buckley
These vegetarian dumplings hail
from Afghanistan, and are also similar to manti. Recipes vary, but the stalwart
is some kind of green vegetable inside, which can be chives, scallions, or
celery, as they make it in Venice's refugee-run Orient Experience restaurant. Ashak
are normally topped with a stewy lentil kind of sauce, and yogurt.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/dumplings-worlds-best-35/index.html
