Celebrating Dumplings From Around the World This Lunar New Year

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Celebrating Dumplings From Around the World This Lunar New Year"

Podcast: All Of It (WNYC)
Date: February 18, 2026
Host: David Fuerst (in for Alison Stewart)
Guests: Eric Kim (New York Times food and cooking columnist), Hedy Lou MacKinnon (food writer)

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Overview

In celebration of Lunar New Year and New York Times Cooking’s Dumpling Week, this episode explores the rich cultural, emotional, and culinary significance of dumplings from around the world. Host David Fuerst is joined by food writers Eric Kim and Hedy Lou MacKinnon to discuss the diversity of dumplings, their place in family traditions, and how New Yorkers and others celebrate Dumpling Week with recipes and stories, echoing the vibrant multicultural tapestry of the city. The conversation is interwoven with listener calls sharing their own dumpling memories and traditions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dumplings Across Cultures: Definitions and Debates

• What makes a dumpling?
  • Eric Kim describes dumplings as “anything that’s filled with a filling, anything that gets steamed, pan fried, or fried” (03:53).
  • Debate about expanding the definition—are empanadas or ravioli dumplings? Hedy: “I think it is” (04:34).
  • Hedy mentions her family’s dumpling, gokjae, and its similarities with empanadas in Argentina (04:35).
• Inclusivity:
  • Both guests argue for an inclusive approach to what counts as a dumpling, celebrating global diversity.
    • Eric: “I think we’re of the bent to kind of include most things… it really says a lot about our just human nature” (17:55).

2. Dumplings and Family Traditions

• Symbolism during Lunar New Year:
  • Hedy: Dumplings are “a sign of luck… they represent gold ingots, which are like old currency in Chinese culture” (05:21).
  • Dumpling-making as a family bonding ritual and rite of passage:
    • Hedy: “Some of my earliest memories… are actually making dumplings with my mom. Being invited to that table… was a big deal. It’s a rite of passage.” (05:54)
  • Eric shares forming new family traditions with his partner:
    • “I wanted him to learn about dumpling folding so that we could start a new tradition together because we’re starting our own family now.” (06:44)

3. Listener Stories: Dumplings as Cultural Connectors

• Non-Asian Dumplings:
  • Jeffrey from Brooklyn shares about Jewish kreplach at Second Avenue Deli: “It’s beef…they’re quite large…it’s very authentic.” (09:09)
  • Discussion of Polish pierogies (Eric reminiscing about Veselka) and Ukrainian varenikes (Leti from East Brunswick, 20:29).
• Teaching and Community:
  • Marja from the Lower East Side shares about her restaurant’s dumpling classes as storytelling: “Each dumpling filling was like a story, like little content.” (19:23)
• Dumplings as comfort:
  • Jennifer in South Orange wishes to cheer her injured daughter with homemade dumplings (13:27).
• Friendship and Inclusion:
  • Dominique from Brooklyn recalls being welcomed into a Chinese family’s Lunar New Year dumpling-making tradition: “It was so cute and wholesome to just see, like, how her family just, you know, took us in.” (23:31)

4. NYT Dumpling Week: Evolution and Recipes

• Annual Celebration:
  • Now in its second year; started with traditional dumplings, expanding this year to various world styles (10:17).
• Recipe highlights:
  • Hetty’s mushroom manti, a vegetarian take on Turkish/Central Asian dumplings with yogurt and spicy tomato sauce (10:44, 16:33).
  • Viral recipes: Hedy’s “tomato dumpling salad” (08:06), a popular summer dish using store-bought frozen dumplings.
  • Innovative approaches:
    • Thai basil chicken dumplings with gluten-free rice paper wrappers (12:42).
    • K Chun’s potato-cheese dumplings—a fusion inspired by Russian, Korean, and pierogi traditions (14:39).
• Educational value:
  • Eric celebrates the expertise shared through video tutorials on NYT Cooking: “You get to watch these experts…do it with so much elegance.” (11:29)

5. Food, Identity, and Evolution

• Dumplings as a mirror of migration and adaptation: Recipes and techniques “come from no culture but all cultures,” blending past and present (Eric, 15:09).
• Layered meanings: Comfort, nostalgia, and togetherness echoed through calls, personal memories, and shared meals (“magic” and “ritual” mentioned repeatedly, e.g., 21:14 by Leti).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On dumpling diversity:
  • Eric: “We’re sort of stretching the definition of dumpling this year because we want everyone to understand…the possibilities of filling things.” (03:53)
• On family and ritual:
  • Hedy: “Some of my earliest and most treasured memories are actually making dumplings with my mom, being invited to that table.” (05:54)
• On new traditions:
  • Eric: “I have these…King Mandu…every time I open that, I’m, like, reminded of… the four of us gather(ing) around a table helping my mom fold dumplings.” (06:44)
• On inclusivity:
  • Hedy (on ravioli): “When I do hot pot at home… I get out frozen ravioli and it goes in the broth. To me, it’s so similar… I do consider it a dumpling.” (17:29)
• Listener’s warmth:
  • Jennifer: “Whenever I say to her what do you want for dinner? She always says dumplings…hopefully this will cheer her up.” (13:27)
• Describing varenikes:
  • Leti: “She had to dry them before cooking, so she spread dish towels all over her little tiny apartment. On every surface, there were the dumplings drying, and it was the most beautiful thing I saw as a child.” (20:29)
• On the comfort of dumplings:
  • Eric: “I think that combination is just so comforting. It’s like what I want to eat after a drink or two.” (21:20)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------------|------------| | Dumpling definitions, cultural debates | 03:25–04:58| | Family traditions, making dumplings at home | 05:21–07:10| | Listener stories – Tomato dumpling salad | 07:35–08:34| | Non-Asian dumplings: Kreplach, Pierogi | 08:46–09:53| | NYT Dumpling Week—scope and highlights | 10:17–12:25| | Gluten-free dumpling advice | 12:42–13:11| | Listeners: Dumplings as comfort food | 13:27–15:20| | Manti & cross-cultural connections | 15:38–17:14| | Ravioli and broad definitions | 17:27–18:37| | Listener stories: Dumpling classes, varenikes | 19:16–21:14| | Afghan dumplings (ashak); favorite/worst dumplings | 22:05–22:44| | Inclusion in Lunar New Year tradition | 22:52–23:54| | Is baked pork bun a dumpling? (Yes!) | 23:54–24:05|

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Additional Resources

• All NYT Dumpling Week recipes and videos:
  • nytcooking.com, or via the NYT Cooking app.
• Watch cooking demonstrations by thinkers, doers, and creators—experts featured each day on youtube.com/NYTCooking.

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Tone and Takeaways

The episode is infused with warmth, nostalgia, and an infectious delight for food traditions old and new. The hosts and guests are open-hearted—curious about global foodways, gleeful about experimentation, and reverent about the emotional weight dumplings carry in so many families and communities. Above all, the message is inclusivity: that dumplings, in their many forms, are a global language of care, creativity, and togetherness.

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Closing Quote (Hedy Lou MacKinnon, 24:19):
“Happy Dumpling Week to all who celebrate.”

Transcript

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[David Fuerst]

Now you can bring all the gear you and your family need for unforgettable adventures. The new V6 Nissan Pathfinder power your adventure. You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm David Fuerst in for Alison Stewart and it is Dumpling Week. In honor of Lunar New Year, New York Times Cooking is releasing new dumpling recipes from different cultures all around the world. Eating dumplings during Lunar New Year is said to bring good fortune. In China, families gather to meticulously fold pockets of dough into those irresistible half moon shapes. And dumplings are a staple of cuisines around the world. In Japan, they're referred to as gyoza. In Korea, they're called mandu. And of course there are Polish pierogies. So it's lunchtime and I'm hungry. So before I get carried away, let's welcome our guests to share their delight for dumplings. New York Times food and cooking columnist Eric Kim and food writer Hedy Lou MacKinnon are here with us. Eric and Hetty, welcome to all of it.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Hi.

[Eric Kim]

Thanks for having us.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Are you hungry?

[David Fuerst]

I am hungry.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

I'm confessing you're about to get hungry.

[Eric Kim]

I actually am hungry.

[David Fuerst]

Okay, well, that's not gonna be helpful, listeners. We would love to hear from you during this conversation. How have you been celebrating the lunar new Year? Were there dumplings involved? What flavor of dumpling is your favorite? Do you want to talk about a family recipe that has been passed down? Give us a call or a TE 212-433-9692. That's 212-433-WNYC. Or you can send us a message on social media. Llofitwnyc. So, Eric, different cultures have developed foods that involve stuffing, a type of filling into pastry all over the world. How do you define what makes a dumpling at the New York Times?

[Eric Kim]

This is very controversial this year because I have a bunch technically a bao, which I think some people will say is not a dumpling. But in Korea, the word wangmandu, which refers to king dumplings, it's just referring to the size. They do involve a yeasted kind of bread roll wrapped around a very savory, decidedly dumpling filling.

[David Fuerst]

What kind of size are we talking?

[Eric Kim]

We're talking like, this size.

[David Fuerst]

That's really helpful on the radio.

[Eric Kim]

Yeah, I'm not really good at sports. Is that a.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

That's a tennis.

[Eric Kim]

Tennis ball, maybe a little bigger. But those are really. I think anything that's filled with, you know, a filling, I think anything that gets steamed, pan fried, or fried. I feel like the. We're sort of stretching the definition of dumpling this year because we want everyone to understand, like, the possibilities of filling things.

[David Fuerst]

Do you draw the line somewhere? Do you have some examples of cultures that have dishes with strong similarities?

[Eric Kim]

Okay, so. So we were trying to decide whether or not, for instance, an empanada was a dumpling. And what do you think, Hedy?

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

I think it is.

[Eric Kim]

Oh, cool.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Yeah. Because I was in Argentina a few years ago, and I was an expert empanada maker because my family, our family's dumpling is called a gokjae, and it has exactly the same crimp. And that was part of the first New York Times dumpling week. So that recipe's on the New York Times too, and it's exactly the same crimp. So.

[David Fuerst]

So as we're talking about some of these recipes, where can people find all these recipes that you're talking about?

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

They're on New York Times cooking app, New York times.com also newyorktimescooking.com Is that right, Eric?

[Eric Kim]

Yeah.

[David Fuerst]

NYTCooking.com NYTCooking.com Now Hetty, many people celebrated the Lunar New Year yesterday. What role do dumplings play on the dinner table for some families during Lunar New Year?

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Yeah, like, for me personally, it was. We had our family dumpling, but they're a sign of luck. They say they represent ingots, gold ingots, which are like old currency in Chinese culture many years ago. But in reality, they're a great way of just coming together with your family. Cooking together, wrapping together. Some of my earliest memories and most treasured memories are actually making dumplings with my mom being invited to that table to be allowed to fold and crimp a dumpling.

[David Fuerst]

To be allowed?

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Yeah, that was a big deal. It's a rite of passage. And my mom didn't invite me into the kitchen very often. It was her domain, except to make those Gok Jae dumplings. So it's a very treasured moment and memory for me.

[David Fuerst]

That's how you learned.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Yeah, yeah.

[David Fuerst]

Is it a similar way that you learned how to make dumplings, Eric?

[Eric Kim]

Definitely. Under my mom's tutelage, I would say for our family, though, my mother liked using us for manual labor. Cause she would make the fillings. Like, the thing about dumplings is I used to think that the folding of it was the nuisance, and the eating of it was the only joy. But the second year doing this dumpling week at NYT Cooking, I just kind of realized that, for me, it's. It's a real symbol of family. I mean, even this year, my. I have these. Those King Mandu, they come with in, like, a set of four in a steamer basket. And every time I open that, I'm, like, reminded of, you know, the four of us. And the four of us gather around a table helping my mom fold dumplings. I think also because I'm sharing this practice with my partner, we're getting married this year. I kind of invited him into the kitchen, and it's just the two of us now, and I kind of wanted him to learn about dumpling folding so that we could start a new tradition together because we're starting our own family now.

[David Fuerst]

Yeah, that's a beautiful story. If you would like to join this conversation and talk about dumplings that you love. What are your favorites? Just talk about some of your Lunar New Year traditions. 212-433-9692. That's 212-433-WNYC and let's take a call right now. This is still Yani in Brooklyn. Welcome to all of it.

[Caller/Listener]

Hey. Hello. Hello. Hi, Stil. Hi, Hetty. I couldn't not. I just wanted to say how much I love your tomato dumpling salad. It's one of my favorites and it's a staple and it's a heady, petty original.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

That's amazing. Thank you.

[David Fuerst]

So you know each other?

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

We do. She's a big fan of this show. I told her to call in. But the dumpling. Dumpling tomato salad that Steliani mentions is very popular recipe that's also on nyt. Cooking the great one. It's. It's turning dumplings into a salad.

[David Fuerst]

Interesting. I was just going to say this has nothing to do with dumplings. But it does.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

It does. Yes. Yes. You can use, you know, you can use homemade, but in the recipe, it's frozen dumplings. You can buy it at any supermarket these days. And you throw that in with tomatoes, a chili crisp vinaigrette, and you've got a really refreshing salad. And in the summer, you probably want to eat it three or four times a week because it's that good.

[Eric Kim]

I made it as soon as it came out, that recipe a few years ago. It's very viral for us.

[David Fuerst]

You're going to pack that up?

[Eric Kim]

I'm going to pack that up.

[David Fuerst]

Okay, let's take another call. Jeffrey in Brooklyn. Welcome to all of it.

[Caller/Listener]

Hello, I'm calling about a non Asian dumpling, which is a Jewish dumpling called kraplach. My grandmother used to make creplak and put it in soup. But these days I like to go to the Second Avenue deli and get them fried on a plate with a side of sauteed onions.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Amazing. What's inside? What's the filling?

[Caller/Listener]

It's beef. I'm sure there are onions in there, too. But it's a beef. It's a beef. They're quite large. It's a Second Avenue deli, so it's not like eating a Chinese dumpling. But they're really, really delicious, and it's one of the best things they make, and it's very authentic.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Wow, that's good to know. I'm gonna. Well, I can't eat it because I'm vegetarian, but Eric, you can seek it out.

[Eric Kim]

Love a beef filling. Beef dumpling. I like that you're addressing the non Asian dumplings because one thing that really reminds me of New York City and kind of get, you know, growing up here is when I say growing up, I mean my 20s. I feel like Veselka sitting at that, you know, bar with, you know, the potato pierogi and having the applesauce and the sour cream and the caramelized onions, those are real moment for me in time.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Yeah.

[David Fuerst]

Irresistible.

[Eric Kim]

Irresistible. So delicious.

[David Fuerst]

Well, if you would like to join this discussion, the number Once again, it's 212-433-9692. That's 212-433-9692. I mentioned that New York Times cooking is celebrating Dumpling Week. Can you just. Let's go back for a second. What is Dumpling Week? This is the second time it's happened, right?

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Yeah, it's the second annual dumpling week. It's going to go on every year now, but it's really just five days of celebrating dumplings and then all the different styles of dumplings. I think last year, which was the first year, they were more traditional dumplings. Drawing on family stories, this year we've tried to, you know, expand the range of dumplings a little bit. Like, my contribution is a. A mushroom manti, which is their Turkish and Central Asian dumpling. I tried it 20 years ago in Turkey, and it's something that I've been making since then. It usually has a beef or lamb filling version, has a mushroom filling, and it's very different to, like Chinese dumplings that I grew up with. It's served with a yogurt base and a spicy tomato sauce on the top. So it's kind of like a layered dish. It just kind of redefines what a dumpling is for me, especially as a person who grew up eating them.

[David Fuerst]

So I mentioned I was hungry before.

[Eric Kim]

That one's really good.

[David Fuerst]

Yeah, that sounds incredible.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

We have some great dumplings this year, too.

[Eric Kim]

I think I associate Dumpling week with getting to showcase everyone's expertise. So I see Dumpling week as a spin off, if you will, of our Cookie week, which is an annual Christmas tradition. And with. But. But with. And with cookies, the barrier to entry is really low. But with dumplings, we also think the barrier to entry is like low to medium. But the crimping and the folding, that you get better at it with experience. And so I like, I love watching the videos on YouTube every day. There's a new video coming out on YouTube.com NYT Cooking. Hedy's video came out today, actually. And you get to watch these experts really kind of teach their. From their experience and watching Genevieve, Ko, Hedy, Suli and K? Chun kind of teach just they're like cooking demonstrations, proper cooking demonstrations, and they do it with so much elegance. And they've been in this industry for a long time. So it's a real delight and a real learning experience to watch these videos from these women.

[David Fuerst]

We're speaking with food writers Eric Kim and Hetty Lou MacKinnon. Thanks both of you for being here today on all of it. We are talking about dumplings and we have a question here. Someone writing in to say they need to be gluten free. Can you recommend any gluten free dumplings?

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Well, yeah, we actually have one this year. It's by Genevieve Ko. It's a Thai basil chicken dumpling that's made with rice paper wrappers. So it's the rice paper wrappers that you'd use in like a Vietnamese spring roll. They're made of rice flour and you just kind of dunk them in water and they soften up. And so hers, as long as you eat chicken, you can try that one. It's a great gluten free dumpling option.

[David Fuerst]

Okay. Well you had a quick go to answer, so thanks for that.

[Eric Kim]

Yeah, that was awesome.

[David Fuerst]

And we're going to take some of your calls right now. 212-433-9692 here on all of it. Jennifer in South Orange, New Jersey. Welcome to.

[Caller/Listener]

Thank you. So my this is kind of a sad call to my daughter who's a senior in high school, tore her ACL and her meniscus this past weekend at her big cheer competition and it's her last season, but her favorite food in the world, her dumplings. Whenever I say to her what do you want for dinner? She always says dumplings. And so obviously this is like a major snafu in our lives. Who weren't expecting this. So I saw the dumpling week recipes in the New York Times and I went to Whole Foods this morning and got everything to make the Thai fusion one and the pork and chive one. And now I just heard you talk about chocolate. And I'm thinking that will really because of course in Typhon is her favorite restaurant that you can never get into. So hopefully this will all cheer her up as she gets ready to have surgery instead of finishing her oh my goodness.

[David Fuerst]

Well, good luck with all of that. Thank you so much for sharing that story. And, and Eric, is there some special extra magical comfort quality to dumplings?

[Eric Kim]

Yeah, I think one of the recipes that really exemplifies this well is K Chuns. She has a cabbage, potato and cheese dumpling. It's such a cool expression of her creativity. K's Korean, you know, by origin culture. But her mother grew up making her this Russian soup, quote unquote Russian soup they called it. And it was like a captain Potato Soup. And so it's a potato stuffed wonton that she like, finishes in butter, which is delicious.

[David Fuerst]

It's incredible.

[Eric Kim]

She plates it, showers over some parm, I think some cheese. Dill. There's a lot of dill in there. So it sort of comes from no culture, but all cultures. And then I love. I ate a lot of those last night.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

We had a party. It's very resonant of pierogies, actually. It has had with. Especially with the dill and the butter. It's really reminded me of it, but actually very new at the same time.

[Eric Kim]

Yeah, that's key.

[David Fuerst]

Well, that sounds delicious. Let's take another call. Hannah in Warwick. Welcome.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi. Thank you. I lived in Turkey like 25 years ago, so I haven't had this dish in so long, and it makes me so sad. But they have this really, really beautiful little dumpling called man te, and it's like little pinch sized purses of like, beef or lamb. And I've never made it, so I can't really explain to you exactly everything that's in there, but it's definitely served covered with like a. With garlicky yogurt. And I feel like there was a mint component to it as well. And also somehow a tomato or pepper was also in there. Maybe it was a. A little bit of a tomato sauce, but, oh, my gosh, like the flavors and just like the. The textures of it. It just. There are a few things that have been tastier in my life.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Well, I.

[Caller/Listener]

Have you heard of manta? Have you had that?

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

We actually have a manta in our dumpling package this year, so it's actually my recipe. It's probably a little bit different to what you remember. This is a vegetarian version, and it is served with the garlicky yogurt and the spicy tomato sauce. It's actually, I use a cheat. I don't make the dough from scratch, but I use a wonton wrapper. So they're much bigger than what you would remember in Turkey, but it still has all those elements. And there's a. There is dried mint in there. There's Aleppo pepper. It definitely reminds me of the manta I had in, in Turkey, but a little bit different probably to what you remember because they're vegetarian, but give it a try.

[David Fuerst]

That sounds great, and thank you so much for that call. Speaking of controversy, we had some controversy earlier. Mitchell in Manhattan wants to know if you consider ravioli to be a dumpling.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Personally, I do.

[David Fuerst]

Okay.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

That could be my personal opinion, but to me, a ravioli. So when I Do hot pot at home. This could be controversial. When I do hot pot at home, I actually put ravioli on the table. So if I don't have dumplings in the freezer and something quick, I'll get out frozen ravioli and it goes in the broth. To me, it's so similar to a dumpling that I do consider it a dumpling.

[Eric Kim]

I think we're of the bent to kind of include most things, because I think what's really special about dumpling week is showing the breadth of, you know, how all of us refill something. We boil it or steam it or pan fry it. I think just all these cultures separately having done this and how it's become like the holiday dish, I think that really says a lot about our just human nature.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Yeah. I think it's similar to, say, like, rice. You know, so many cultures have a rice dish that's very special. And I think there are so many cultures that have a dumpling that is unique to them and special to them. So I think that, you know, we should definitely be looking at all the dumplings.

[Eric Kim]

Yeah.

[David Fuerst]

Welcome all the dumplings.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Yes, we welcome all the dumplings.

[David Fuerst]

Well, we have a text from someone who says they went to the New York Times Dumpling week event last night, and it was great.

[Eric Kim]

Thank God. We had a great time.

[David Fuerst]

So congratulations again. If people want to. What's the first place to engage if you want to plug in immediately to the Dumpling Week?

[Eric Kim]

Definitely New York Times Cooking's app. Or you can go to nytcooking.com and it's all going to be there on the front page, splashed everywhere for people to see.

[David Fuerst]

And we'll take another call right now. We could still get a few more calls in 212-433-9692. Marja on the lower east side. Welcome to all of it.

[Eric Kim]

Hi.

[Caller/Listener]

Hello. How are you?

[David Fuerst]

Hello. Do you have a dumpling story?

[Caller/Listener]

Yes, I do. In fact, I came from Europe and I got engaged somehow or another in the food business. And then I also had a Japanese partner through which I discovered all kinds of things, including the gyoza, but they were with meat. And I decided then to create one that I used in my restaurant, the Kitchen Club, that was open for 20 years. So the restaurant was featured with lots of different dumplings. And in the end, we also made dumpling classes, which were storytelling, because each dumpling filling was like a story, like little content. And the shiitake dumpling was a big hit on the menu. And eventually we served chocolate and raspberry Dumplings with ice cream for dinner.

[Eric Kim]

Nice.

[David Fuerst]

Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. Let's go straight to another call. Leti from East Brunswick, New Jersey. Welcome.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah, hi. Thanks for taking my call. And I'm so thrilled to tell the story of my grandmother Magnitude dumplings.

[David Fuerst]

Yeah, sure. Go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

So usually. Usually we think of the. You know, the Jewish style dumpling is kripla. My grandmother made the Ukrainian dumplings called varenikas. I actually haven't heard the word till I came to the States from Israel. And she only made them on special occasions, so it would be our birthdays and maybe one holiday. But walking into her house when she made the varinikes was magical because she had to dry them before cooking. So she spread dish towels all over her little tiny apartment. On every surface, there were the dumplings drying, and it was the most beautiful thing I saw as a child.

[David Fuerst]

Oh, you're setting such a beautiful visual for us there. And you used that word magic again.

[Eric Kim]

Yeah, magic. It reminds me of this place in Brooklyn called Bar Laika. They do pelmeni. They do those dumplings as well. And they serve them with, like, sour cream and dill. I think that combination is just so comforting. And it's like what I want to eat after a drink or two.

[David Fuerst]

Okay, we have a crazy text here. Someone wants to know what is the worst kind of dumpling, like the heaviest, bad dough to filling ratio, takes forever to cook, et cetera. Stunned silence.

[Eric Kim]

We don't want to get canceled.

[David Fuerst]

No, just kidding.

[Eric Kim]

I don't know. What dumpling do you not prefer?

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

I can't answer that.

[Eric Kim]

I know.

[David Fuerst]

Okay.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

I do have one. I don't prefer.

[Caller/Listener]

I can't say it.

[David Fuerst]

Okay. It's far too controversial. Well, someone also writes in to say, and I hope you can maybe correct my pronunciation here, there's a great Afghan dumpling called ashak that also has the yogurt and tomato sauce.

[Eric Kim]

Yeah, Hedy, when I ate yours, it reminded me of this dumpling dish at an Afghan restaurant I had just had, and I thought that was really cool.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

What was that dumpling like?

[Eric Kim]

It was very similar. The kind of pinching of the four. It was, like, rectangular, the square, and then it was served with the yogurt sauce and tomato. It was very similar, and I think they just share that edge. Right.

[David Fuerst]

Okay, we have just a few seconds left. We'll try to take one more call. Dominique from Brooklyn. Welcome to all of it.

[Eric Kim]

Nice. Hey.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi. How are you? Thank you guys so much for taking my call.

[Eric Kim]

Thanks.

[David Fuerst]

Did you have a dumpling story.

[Caller/Listener]

Yes. Okay, so I wanted to share about my. One of my high school best friends. Her name is Tracy. She is Chinese, and her family does a Lunar New Year celebration every year. And so back when I was, I guess, sophomore in high school, she invited myself and all my friends over, and I have this, like, really amazing memory of all of us around the kitchen island doing dumpling making. And it was, like, so cute and wholesome to just see, like, how her family just, you know, took us in. And everyone was, like, so excited as soon as any of us actually successfully close the dumpling. It was a really amazing memory. Yeah. And then. So that definitely put me onto dumplings a little bit. And I also remember that being my first experience, baked pork buns, which are now, like, my favorite. Go to. I don't. We were having a discussion about whether that's dumpling or not. I don't know how you guys feel.

[Eric Kim]

We say it is, and we have Wang Mandu on the site. And it's basically the steamed bun, but a different filling. I call the filling jalapeno hamburger.

[David Fuerst]

Eric, your ruling is yes?

[Eric Kim]

My ruling is yes.

[David Fuerst]

Okay, fair enough. We've been speaking with New York Times food and cooking columnist Eric Kim and food writer Hedy Lou McKinnon about dumplings. Thank you both so much for joining us. Happy Lunar New Year and Happy Dumpling Week.

[Hedy Lou MacKinnon]

Happy Dumpling Week to all who celebrate.

[David Fuerst]

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