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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
7 min
22/01/2026
Dumplings have existed for centuries, gracing tables, plates, and even the silver screen through films like Kung Fu Panda, ‘Bao’ (Pixar's heartwarming short) and more. These soft pouches filled with meat or vegetables have travelled from ancient trade routes to trendy food trucks, today, blending into the local food scene that reflects centuries of cultural exchange. Whether it's momos in Darjeeling's hills or pierogi at Polish weddings, each dumpling tells a story.
The word ‘dumpling’ might evoke a soft and fuzzy feeling, and why not when they are so wholesome? What you might be imagining is perhaps momos and soup dumplings, but the term ‘dumpling’ encompasses more than just these two dishes from Asia. While the exact origins are hard to pinpoint, most sources point them to China, which explains why they have so many varieties of them. It is said that a Chinese medicine man made them during a particularly harsh winter to warm up the local people. What he did was wrap mutton, herbs, and chilis in a dough, which was steamed and consumed. While it may be how China discovered it, dumplings or rather steamed, stuffed doughs, certainly exist across the globe. Europe has the Italian gnocchi and ravioli, Poland has its pierogi and so on. Read ahead and discover the famous dumplings around the world.
Inspired by the Chinese jiaozi dumplings, the Japanese gyoza gained popularity only after World War II. The dumplings use thin wheat-based wrappers filled with a savoury mix of minced pork or chicken and vegetables. Cabbage, chives, green onions, garlic, and ginger form the backbone of most fillings. The most popular gyoza is pan-fried gyoza, where the dumplings’ bottoms are first crisped and then steamed. They are also boiled and served in broth or, less commonly, deep-fried. Typically served with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil, gyoza became a regular part of Japanese food culture after the 1940s.
The momo's origins spark friendly debates between Tibet, Nepal, and India. Legend attributes their introduction to Tibet by 7th-century Nepali princess Bhrikuti, though many believe the dumpling concept arrived from China via the Mongols in the 13th century. Traditional Tibetan momos featured yak meat wrapped in thick, minimally spiced dough. After reaching the Indo-Gangetic Plains, chicken replaced yak and even vegetarian versions emerged. Following the 1959 Tibetan uprising, refugees carried their recipes to India, where momos exploded in popularity.
How can a pasta be a dumpling? Very easily! Ravioli has an outer wrapping with a meat or an equivalent filling inside. Ravioli took birth in medieval Italy, though its exact parentage remains mysterious. Traditionally prepared with wheat flour and eggs, the pasta acts both as a wrapper and as a base that absorbs sauces or broth during cooking. The dish appears in the 14th-century English cookbook The Forme of Cury as ‘rauioles’, while Italian merchant Francesco di Marco Datini mentioned ravioli in his writings, describing herbs mixed with fresh cheese and beaten egg cooked in broth.
What might seem indigenous to India or even Indo-Chinese food is actually from ancient China. Wontons are sometimes referred to as Chinese ravioli, being quite similar in preparation and feel to the Italian dish. However, unlike the thicker-skinned raviolis, the wontons have a thinner wrapper that envelops around meat, seafood or vegetable filling. Wontons originated during the Han dynasty era, where farmers found that they could make dough with ground wheat and water, and therein cropped up an assortment of dishes called ‘bing’, an umbrella term for dumplings, steamed breads, grilled flatbreads and noodles.
These are Italy’s traditional dumplings, most commonly made today from a soft potato-based dough shaped into small, ridged pieces that help sauces cling. They are typically boiled in salted water, though some regions also shallow-fry them. Historically, gnocchi predate pasta, and early records show the terms gnocchi, gnocco, and maccherone were once used interchangeably. Before potatoes became common in Europe, gnocchi were made with wheat, semolina, barley, rye, chestnut flour, or even soaked stale bread during lean times. Potatoes only featured in the 19th century, after which mashed potatoes replaced flour.
Shumai is a well-known dim sum dumpling, recognisable by its open top and compact shape. It is typically filled with finely minced pork, often combined with shrimp or mushrooms, and steamed until tender. Once cooked, it is commonly finished with a small garnish such as a pea, carrot, or fish roe. The dumpling traces its roots to teahouses along historic trade routes in southern China, where it became a popular snack. Over time, shumai spread beyond China and gained popularity across East and Southeast Asia. Today, it appears in many regional forms, served differently depending on local tastes.
Derived from the Polish word ‘pieróg’, these stuffed dumplings were initially a peasant food that climbed the social ladder to become a holiday staple. Pierogi fillings have a vast range and can be anything from cheese, onions, ground meat, mushrooms and even potatoes. The recipe of pierogi dates to at least 1682, appearing in Poland's first cookbook, Compendium ferculorum. One source credits Saint Hyacinth with introducing pierogi in 1238, either through prayers that restored crops destroyed by storms or by feeding people during a Tatar invasion famine.
Korea’s version of dumplings is called mandu, which has meat and vegetable fillings and sometimes shrimp or tofu too. It has a shared heritage with Asian meat-filled dumplings in Turkey, Central Asia, China, and Japan, but how these dumplings came to be in Korea is hard to say. Some historians believe Mongolians introduced mandu during the 14th-century Goryeo Dynasty. Buddhism, the state religion, prohibited meat consumption until Mongolian incursion relaxed religious prohibitions, and mandu was among the newly imported meat dishes. An alternate theory suggests mandu arrived much earlier from the Middle East through the Silk Road.
Chinese bao buns trace their lineage to the Three Kingdoms period, where strategist Zhuge Liang faced a deity demanding soldiers' heads to part a river. Rather than sacrifice his men, he crafted meat-filled buns shaped like human heads, calling them mantou (barbarian's head). By the 10th century, mantou referred to unfilled steamed buns, while bao (or baozi) became the filled version. Northern China, where wheat cultivation dominated, became Bao's birthplace. During the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), mantou were small, leavened, and eaten as snacks. In the Song dynasty (960-1279), they could contain various fillings and became common student snacks.
Whether pan-fried, steamed, boiled, or baked, dumplings prove that humanity's greatest innovations often come wrapped in simple pleasures. These portable pockets travelled silk roads, survived wars, and adapted to local tastes while maintaining their essential comfort. From Tibetan mountains to Polish kitchens, each culture kneaded its history into dough, creating edible time capsules that connect people across borders. So next time you bite into your favourite dumpling, you might just be tasting centuries of migration, creativity, and the universal desire to wrap something delicious in carbs.
