Dumplings: a Universal Food

(Ingredients: Pork Dumplings with Chinese Chives)

August 19, 2025.

by Bridget O'Donnell


As something of a continuation to PPLD’s What’s Cooking Blog entry for July, Grace's Chinese chives also inspired this month's post. Alas, the chive and pork dumpling recipe had no measurements, which ended up being an experiment in itself even with another recipe to reference. So, as is becoming the norm, I split a package of ground pork into two bowls for comparison. 

 

The abridged version:

 

In one bowl I added the ingredients Grace listed: ground pork, chopped Chinese chives, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and salt. As luck would have it, I didn’t realize when I opened the sesame oil that the nozzle regulating the pour-speed came off with the lid(!). That one erratic glug resulted in a more distinct taste than intended but it wasn't disastrous. After cherry picking ingredients to avoid infusing oil and then making a liquid puree the meat in the other bowl was seasoned ‘similar’ to Judy Leung’s “Pork and Chive Dumplings” recipe. To mitigate any chance of over-pouring a second time the sesame oil was omitted. Low sodium soy sauce, garlic powder, ginger powder and sautéed scallions were added as substitutions or merely on a whim. After a full tray of dumplings had been pleated the leftover pork was combined into a single bowl and used to fill the last few dumpling skins. By this point the process was beginning to feel like quite the undertaking for a novice but so far, so good. Moving right along, the first two dumpling variations were boiled in separate pots so they could be easily identified. …Let's just say, I was thankful there were still a few dumplings left on a cookie sheet. One of the more decorative dumplings could be saved from the rolling boil with a slotted spoon but it wasn't pretty, the rest fell apart. The broken noodles and pork 'meatballs' made a fine lunch but they couldn't be called dumplings. 

 

After a quick trip back to the drawing board, a.k.a. lunch, I lined a small vegetable steamer with parchment paper and set it in a pot with a small amount of water. The remaining dumplings were successfully steamed, three at a time. Out of curiosity, two of the steamed dumplings were then fried in a pan like I occasionally do with pierogis, not bad, but also not necessary. In conclusion, we liked the combined pork recipes with sautéed scallions the best and will try dumplings in a bamboo steamer basket in the near future. 

 

Tangentially, did you ever notice that almost every culture has some kind of dumpling? 


Title of cookbook: Beyond Borscht: Old World Recipes from Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

 

Author of Recipe: Tatyana Nesteruk

                                                    

What prompted you to check out this cookbook?

My significant other’s Ukrainian relatives came to visit and cooked for us all week. In addition to some serious meals prepared over an open fire, they taught me how to make a couple of Ukrainian dishes including, although indirectly, pelmeni. Pelmeni are Russian dumplings with a meat filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough, boiled and, in our case, served with sour cream (optional), vinegar and black pepper. Apparently, they're popular across Eastern Europe. 

 

Everyone helped make the pelmeni from scratch while I was at work. Later that day I was told how to season the meat before we broke for another amazing dinner, but forgot to ask how to prepare the dough before our guests left. Beyond Borscht had a recipe to reference ingredients and measurement and then verify them with the relatives remotely.

 

…Maybe next time they visit we’ll have Varenyky.

 

What did you like about this recipe?

These little dumplings are so cute, surprisingly filling and I loved that everyone helped make them.

 

What didn't you like about this cookbook/recipe?

Here I'll apply what I learned from making Chinese Dumplings. 

 

The process of wrapping dumplings is time consuming, and can be challenging to use the same amount of filling in every skin. Our freezer also had to be drastically rearranged to fit multiple cookie sheets of pelmeni before it could be consolidated and stored in a freezer bag (dumplings require patience!).

 

Favorite recipes (that you tried from the cookbook/website):

Pork Pelmeni (pg. 42-44)

 

Did you alter the recipe or make any substitutions?

Well, technically, I haven’t made my own pelmeni yet so I can honestly say no, I didn’t alter the recipe but I did omit serving it with sour cream.

 

Would you recommend this recipe?

Yes! Working with your hands improves dexterity.

 

Pork and Chive Dumpling Ingredients

We'll skip past the boiled mishap to the parchment lined steamer basket.

Left: My First Steamed/Fried Dumplings with Pork, Chive and Sautéed Scallions,

Right: Boiled  Noodles with Pork and Chive ‘Meatballs’

Pelmeni from scratch.

Ready to freeze.

Enjoy[ed]!

References:

Books – 

Beyond Borscht: Old World Recipes from Ukraine and Eastern Europe / Tatyana Nesteruk.

 

Mamushka: A Cookbook / Olia Hercules. (E-resource)

 

Websites - 

Kravchuk, Natasha. “Russian Pelmeni Recipe + New Dough!” Natasha's Kitchen, 8 April 2018, natashaskitchen.com/russian-pelmeni-recipe-new-dough-recipe/

 

Leung, Judy. “Pork and Chive Dumplings.” The Woks of Life, 5 January 2024, thewoksoflife.com/pork-chive-dumplings/

 

“10 Ways To Fold Dumplings.” YouTube, Eat Mila, youtube.com/shorts/2MB6zHe3Z_E?si=44ugAfgoJclUwW62. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025. - (00:57 minute video.)

 

Quick Subject/Concept links to the Discover Online Library catalog (organized alphabetically, by subject):

Cooking, Chinese.

Cooking. Europe, Eastern.

Cooking, Ukrainian.