I've much more time currently, so I've started cooking different Asian and Polish dishes. Lately, I've been making dumplings (I don't remember ever making them from scratch before). Taiwan has plenty of options for dumplings, but they are usually savory, such as baozi (steamed buns), tangyuan (glutinous rice dumplings), or mochi (Japanese rice cakes). These are often sweet and filled with sesame, peanut paste, custard, taro, or red beans. While I enjoy them, there are still some flavors I miss from my childhood. In Poland, we have savory dumplings, usually filled with meat or cabbage and mushrooms. In the past, I wasn't a fan of savory dumplings and barely ate meat, so my all-time favorite was filled with blueberries, strawberries, and cream cheese. The only exception was Ruthenian Dumplings, which are filled with a potato and cheese mixture spiced with pepper.
Another difference in eating dumplings is that in Taiwan, they are often dipped in soy sauce, sometimes with added ginger. In Poland, we would cover them with sauce as well. For savory dumplings, we often fry onions with fatty meat or bacon. For sweet dumplings, we would use sour cream and sugar.
When it comes to dumplings, the dough is usually made of flour and water. In Poland, we have different types of food classified as dumplings in English, such as potato dumplings (kopytka), Silesian dumplings (kluski śląskie), lazy dumplings (pierogi leniwe), potato plum dumplings (knedle ze śliwkami), or "Little Ears" dumplings (uszka).
Potato dumplings (kopytka) are made by mixing cooked potatoes with flour and egg. The dough is then rolled into thin rolls, flattened, and cut into little hoof shapes (kopytka). After boiling, they can be served sweet or savory.
Silesian dumplings (kluski śląskie) are also made from boiled potatoes, but potato flour is used instead of wheat flour. The dough is rolled into small balls, flattened, and pressed in the middle to create a little hole.
Lazy dumplings (pierogi leniwe) can be made with or without potatoes, using cottage cheese (twaróg), eggs, and flour. They are rolled and cut in a similar way to kopytka.
Potato plum dumplings (knedle ze śliwkami) are also made with a potato-based dough. They are round in shape with a plum inside.
"Little Ears" dumplings (uszka) are made similarly to regular dumplings, but they are folded differently. They are usually stuffed with sauerkraut and mushrooms and served in beetroot soup (barszcz) for Christmas Eve.
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| Dumplings |
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| Potato dumplings / Little hoofs (kopytka) |
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| Silesian dumplings (kluski śląskie) |
Cheese dumplings recipe:
Dough:
- 250 g flour
- 150 g hot water
Filling:
- 250 g cream cheese
- 30 g sugar powder
Directions:
1. Pour hot water into the flour and mix it with a spoon until well combined.
2. Knead the dough until it becomes very elastic and smooth.
3. Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface.
4. Use a cup or any round object to cut out round shapes from the dough.
5. In a separate bowl, mix the cheese with powdered sugar until well blended.
6. Place a spoonful of the cheese filling in the center of each round dough piece.
7. Fold the dough in half, sealing the edges to enclose the filling.
8. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt.
9. Carefully place the dumplings into the boiling water and cook them for about 7-10 minutes, or until they float to the surface.
10. Once the dumplings are cooked, remove them from the water using a slotted spoon and serve them hot.
Traditionally, dumplings in Poland use cottage cheese (twaróg), which is not readily available in Taiwan. I used American/Australian-style cream cheese (the type used for baking cheesecakes) and it worked really well.
Silesian dumplings recipe:
Dough:
- 300 g potatoes (after peeling)
- 60 g potato starch
- egg (optional)
Directions:
1. Start by peeling the potatoes, then boil them until they are cooked through.
2. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and mash them until smooth.
3. Add the potato starch to the mashed potatoes. If you don't have a scale, you can estimate the amount.
4. In a bowl, flatten the mashed potatoes and divide them into four equal parts.
5. Take one part out and fill the space with potato starch. Then, combine the remaining potatoes and knead the mixture until it forms a dough.
6. Roll out the dough into a thin sheet and cut it into evenly-sized pieces.
7. Shape each piece into a round dumpling and flatten it slightly. Make a small indentation in the middle of each dumpling using your thumb.
8. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt.
9. Carefully place the dumplings into the boiling water and cook them for approximately 3-5 minutes, or until they float to the surface.
10. Once the dumplings are cooked, remove them from the water using a slotted spoon and serve them hot.
Lazy dumplings with cheese recipe:
Dough:
- 250 g potatoes (after peeling)
- 125 g cheese
- 150 g flour
- 1 egg
Directions:
1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces. Boil the potatoes until they are soft.
2. Drain the potatoes and mash them well with cheese until smooth.
3. Add an egg and flour to the mashed potatoes and cheese. Knead the mixture until it forms a dough.
4. Take small portions of the dough and roll them into thin logs.
5. Flatten the logs and cut them into diamond-shaped dumplings.
6. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt.
7. Carefully drop the dumplings into the boiling water and cook them for 3-4 minutes, or until they float to the surface.
8. Remove the cooked dumplings from the water using a slotted spoon and transfer them to a serving dish.
9. Serve the dumplings hot as a delicious and comforting dish.
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