Dumpling is a typical dish that consists of pieces of dough wrapped around a filling of meat or vegetables or both. A legend goes that dumplings were first invented more than 1,800 years ago by Zhang Zhongjing, one of the most famous practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. He invented it to cure illness due to cold weather. He used to wrap a filling of meat, vegetables and herbs in the dough which he served to his patients. Since then, Chinese dumpling has emerged as one of the most popular cuisines in Chinese New Year. They are also very important in Chinese culture as they symbolize wealth prosperity. Later they became widely popular in the rest of the world.

Today there is a variety of dumpling available in the market with different names and not easy to differentiate! Some of the most popular Dumplings are:

Momos are a type of dumpling that is native to Nepal, Tibet and neighbouring regions. They can be fried, grilled and steamed. The dish is usually accompanied by a soup that has steamed momos immersed in a meat broth. The concept of the dumpling was brought to Nepal in the 1930s by the Newar traders of Kathmandu who traded with Tibet.

Jiaozi is a closer Chinese relative of dumpling. It contains meat fillings such as chicken, pork, shrimp, fish etc. Jiaozi are boiled, steamed or fried. In Chinese New Year Eve or even before on family reunions, people will place a coin or candy inside the Jiaozi with the meanings of obtaining a good fortune.

Japanese gyoza is the Japanese version of the Chinese Jiaozi. The prevalent differences between Japanese-style gyōza and Chinese-style jiaozi are that the Japanese counterpart has rich garlic flavour than the Chinese version. Also, the gyōza wrappers in the Japanese version are thinner as compared to Chineses.  

Dim sum translates to “snack” in the Cantonese region of China. This is a type of food that is prepared as small bite-sized portions. In China, eating dim sum is actually having tea. Although Dim sum includes dumplings but is not limited to it. It may also include food items such as lotus-leaf-wrapped sticky rice, congee, egg tarts, custard buns etc.

Dumplings are not new to Indian Cuisine. Although Momos are quite popular in India, we can also categorize Gujia, Modak and Kachoris under dumplings. Interesting.