No matter what day it is and how serious I am about my diet, a plate of dumplings filled with a generous mixture of chicken or veggies can make me ditch anything and everything. The piping hot, flavoursome and soft dumplings were my everyday evening snack when I was in Delhi. And needless to mention, Delhi has some of the best varieties of momos in store to offer. Just a few days back, I was savouring a plate of delicious chicken fried momos and watching Celebrity MasterChef Australia on my phone. Just then, I saw Tilly Ramsay making something similar to what I was eating at that moment. She called them ‘prawn gyozas’. As unversed as I was back then, I googled the recipe for the same and found out that they were almost similar to momos in terms of ingredients and method of cooking. That’s when it struck me that there are various kinds of the same dish- dumplings with different names and slightly different ingredients. If you relate to my experience, then here are five types of dumplings from across the world that you need to know.
1. Chinese Wontons
Wontons are made with square-shaped dough wrappers that are filled with either pork or shrimp mixture with green onions and spices. Wontons are traditionally served in soup and are either steamed or fried.
2. Japanese Gyoza
Parallel to Chinese Jiaozi, gyozas are filled with the goodness of garlic. Gyozas are usually pan-fried yielding a crispy and brown exterior.
3. Shanghai Tangbao
Steamed in bamboo, Tangbaos are oversized dumplings that are filled with soup. Also known as soup buns or guan tang bao, Tangbaos are usually filled with a soup flavoured with either pork gelatin or crab roes.
4. Nepalese Momos
Last but not least, the heartthrob of most Indians, momos are originally from Nepal. Filled with cooked meat, cottage cheese or vegetable stuffing, momos are served with garlic, chilli and sesame puree that elevates its flavours to a whole new level.
Here are some of the popular dumplings from different parts of the world that are fondly relished by foodies. Although you cannot go around the world to try these dumplings right now, you can definitely try them at home with the embedded recipes.
