How to taste for good quality dumplings
Last time, we discussed How to pick a bag of dumplings when you’re at the grocery store. Today we’re going to assume you have your bag and you’ve brought it home. Now that you’ve cooked it, you’re ready for the taste test, so here are a few things to look out for.
Tip #1: The Wrapper is Thin and Silky
When you have cooked the dumplings, the first thing to look at is whether the wrappers are still intact. A good quality skin doesn’t disintegrate while it’s being cooked, but it should keep its shape. With dumplings, you want the skin to be thin because you don’t want a mouthful of dough. However sometimes the thin is pressed so thinly that it ends up breaking and this is not good either. There is a fine middle where the skin is thin enough that it holds the filling in, but not too thin that the skin breaks.
The second important characteristic of the wrapper is that once it’s been cooked, it should be silky in texture. The right mix of salt, flour, and water should result in a skin that is silky and not doughy or mushy. With poor quality wrappers, the skin can sometimes absorb too much water causing it bloat while cooking.
Tip #2: The Vegetable to Meat Ratio
There are really only two main ingredients in the dumpling filling: vegetables and meat. A good dumpling should be firm and have a good bounce when biting into it. If a dumpling is mushy, it could mean that the vegetable to meat ratio is off. Unless it’s a vegetarian dumpling, the ratio between vegetables and meat should be balanced. In this way, you get a proper meal with nutrients from both the vegetables and the meat.
Unfortunately, since vegetables tend to be cheaper than meat, you will find that often times, there are more vegetables stuffed into the dumpling and not as much meat and as a result, the dumpling won’t have the structure that meat gives.
Tip #3: The cut of the meat
Another way to determine the quality of the filling is based on the cut of meat that is used. Fatty meats tend to be softer and “melt” after they’re cooked causing the dumpling to lose their shape, but they are used because they’re the cheaper cut of meat. When it’s frozen or cold, fatty meats tend to be harder so it’s difficult to tell when you buy it. However, once you’ve cooked the dumpling, you should be able to tell immediately when you bite into the dumpling and you find that the shape doesn’t hold or that the filling is stringy.
At Typical Noodles, we use lean cuts of meat mixed with vegetables that are hand washed to make a high-quality filling that’s healthy and provides a well-balanced meal for your diet.