17 Comfort Foods For Deep Winter

TORONTO, ON – NOVEMBER 11 –

(left to right) Bacon and Potatoe pierogi, Sauerkraut wild mushroom with kimchi pierogi and braised beef with jus, polish pickles and charred green onion pierogi.

Weekly Now Open column. This week on The Saucy Pierogi November 11, 2015. (Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

10. Dumplings

Another vast, versatile classic. Growing up with Appalachian family, my particular memories of dumplings are of them floating in a soup (usually chicken-based). I believe that this particular style of dumplings is at its best when fluffy, though mine inevitably turns out to be dense little flavor bombs. I still eat them, though.

But that’s just one story. Dumplings appear in many cultures. In Jewish cuisine, it’s the famous matzah ball soup. In Asian cuisine, dumplings are often edible wrappers that are stuffed full of tasty filling and then steamed. Caribbean and Latin American traditions have given us empanadas, bread or pastry that’s stuffed and then baked or fried. You can even find dessert dumplings: Japanese chefs create dango, a dumpling similar to mochi that’s made out of rice flour and served on a skewer. Souskluitjies are another kind of sweet dumpling, often made with fruit, served in South Africa.

The point is, you can follow wherever your heart desires and make dumplings that are variously sweet, sour, savory, and everything in between. You can throw them in a soup, eat them off a skewer, or dig into them from a plate. Truly, you are only limited by your own imagination within the galaxy of dumplings.

Recipe: Where to start? Here are a bunch of Asian-style dumplings (Serious Eats). Here’s a classic American version of chicken and dumplings (A Feast for the Eyes). While you’re on a dumpling kick, find some rice flour and make some dango, too (Japan Centre).

Healthy variation: It’s not a variation, exactly, but consider trying out steamed or baked dumplings instead of frying them.