Dumplings - what's not to love about it. Not so surprising of course that this delicious morsel, dish, snack, breakfast(!) got its own holiday on Sept. 26. Happy Dumpling Day!

But, what exactly are dumplings? And what is the difference between dumplings and dimsum? We explain it all to you in this blog. Reading is at your own risk, by the way, because after this you'll feel like having a table for dumplings anyway! Let's go!

Dumplings, what is it anyway?

Dumplings is the name for the small dough packets, often filled with shrimp, chicken or pork or vegetables. They are served steamed, boiled or fried with a dipping sauce or, for example, in a soup. Wonton soup is a good example. By the way, did you know that Ravioli is actually also and dumpling? Do the math: dough packet with filling. But of course we are not called Italiann Food Lovers, so back to our story... In many Asian countries dumplings are eaten as a side dish, main meal and especially often as breakfast. Special huh! By the way, we could get used to that, we have to admit. Dumplings all day, every day!

In different countries, the same dumplings are written and pronounced differently, so don't let this confuse you.

The most famous dumplings are:

• Shao Mai: a dumpling with pork and shrimp. This dumpling is often open at the top. The dough is slightly thicker and not transparent.
• Har Kau: also Harkau is a dumpling with pork and shrimp wrapped in a nicely shaped package. The dough of this dumpling is often a little transparent.
• Wonton: this dumpling is filled with different types of filling. It can contain fish or pork, or a combination of these. Vegetables are also a popular filling for this dough ball. Sometimes Wontons are even filled with soup, other times you will find them actually in your soup.
• Hsiao Long Pao: is a bread dough-like dumpling filled with pork or vegetables. The dough is slightly thicker than other dumplings
• Gyoza: is a dumpling shaped like half a moon and can be filled in different ways. This dumpling has the most preparation methods and is also a well-known potsticker.
• A potsticker is a dumpling cooked in a pan whose water has evaporated. The dumpling sticks to the edge of the wok pan and is therefore also baked on. So you get a steamed dumpling with a crispy side. YUMMY!

So...what is the difference between dumplings and dim sum?

Actually, it's very simple. A dumpling is a dimsum, but not all dimsum is a dumpling! Get it?

dimsum is the name of a way of eating, or eating and sharing all small bites. These can be dumplings, but also, for example, marinated pak choi, sticky rice leaves or bamboo shoots. You can compare it to antipasti (to stay in the Italian comparisons) or tapas. Dumplings are the stuffed dough balls you can eat during dim summing. See, you can also make dim summing into a verb - Dumplings sounds a little weird, doesn't it?

What do you eat with dumplings?

In our opinion, dumplings are tastiest as part of DimSum, so with several other small dishes. But of course you want a nice sauce to go with it for dipping. We give you our favorites;

• Soy sauce
• Crispy chili oil
• Hoisin sauce
• Sweet chili sauce

Of course, you can also make your own dip sauce by, for example, mixing soy sauce with sesame oil and a little oyster sauce. 

You can easily order the dumplings in our webshop. So get your steamer basket ready and enjoy.

Do you really want to make it a fun day and activity? Then try making dumplings yourself! Great fun and much appreciated work!