By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
CHINATOWN — The traditional Chinese dumpling is getting a makeover this weekend.
The popular, centuries-old food — which many Americans see as limited to the doughy morsels floating in soup from the Chinese takeout — will be explored in both flavor and historical context Saturday at the Museum of Chinese in America’s “Dumpling Night” event.
The tasting will feature selections from some of Manhattan’s most innovative Asian chefs, including Eddie Huang of Taiwanese restaurants BaoHaus and Xiao Ye on the Lower East Side, Chris Cheung of the East Village’s China 1, and Andrew Coe, author of "Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States."
“They’ll be surprised by what is defined as a dumpling,” said the event’s moderator, Betty Ming Liu, of what eaters can expect from the 11 different types of dumplings available at the tasting.
“Nobody really understands all the nuances involved.”
Liu explained that the dumpling has its root in the culture and social classes of China, where the food was traditionally utilitarian in the northern part of the country and more refined in the southern regions.
“When you have someone rolling a dumpling skin, it becomes a total personal statement,” added Liu, who is an adjunct professor of journalism at NYU and the New School, as well as a former board member at the museum.
“We want to give people a sense of the dumpling’s personality.”
The dumpling — in basic terms, a savory or sweet filling rolled in a starchy skin — has bred many Asian offshoots, including Japanses-style shumai, gyoza and mochi, said culinary instructor/food blogger Kian Lam Kho, one of the event’s panelists.
He noted the variety of dumpling skins range from egg and noodle to rice, but that historical research has yet to reveal what exactly cooks used to wrap their dumplings some 2,000 years ago in China.
That shouldn’t make much of a difference for the chefs at the tasting, who plan to include a wide selection of skins and fillings to “blow your mind on the whole concept of dumplings,” Liu said.
Admission to the event is $50 and includes the tasting and a year membership to the museum. It runs from 6 to 8 p.m., Sat. July 31, at 215 Centre St.
