Dumplings Doozie

I will readily admit that I’m no Martha Stewart, but I have definitely put more of an effort into cooking since marriage- I even enjoy it sometimes…… Eager to expand my recipe repertoire, I jumped at the chance to learn the art of dumplings from SaiSai’s parents- especially since Harrison has become quite fond of the savory nuggets. We were also interested to see where they lived, since we’ve only frequented the insides of restaurants and hotels since we arrived.
So last night we got a sneak peek into the everyday life if a Qingdao resident- scratch that- a sneak peek into the life of an extremely wealthy Qingdao resident. Due to the overcrowding issues in China, seeing actual houses is a rarity. Instead, most people like the Songs live in apartments. I was under the impression we were going to have a simple dumpling making lesson culminating with a taste test. However, we were in for a real surprise when a chef, who they lauded as being the top 5 star restaurant chef in the city, greeted us at their apartment. We jumped right into the lesson- in Chinese with SaiSai translating. They took us to the various dumpling assembly stations set up around the kitchen- first mixing the various meat and veggie fillers, then rolling the dough to make the dumpling shells, and finally forming them. We all got involved in the action with gusto. They said Harrison had a real gift for the process-while the chef slyly took all the dumplings I had made off to the side to re-do…..typical.

I got rather frustrated when the insides of my dumplings kept leaking out and secretly wanted to pelt the little balls against the wall and run to the nearest McDonalds screaming. After about 20 minutes of letting us make a mockery out of Chinese cuisine, they let the chef take over and we took our places at the table. I never really got to see how the dumplings were actually cooked- but we sure did get to taste….plate after plate after plate of all kinds of dumplings- pork, beef, veggie, sweet onion…. I thought I was going to explode, but that was just the beginning. Not accepting “I’m full” as an excuse, out came sweet and sour fish, shrimp, candied yams, carrots, bok choy, mushrooms. It was honestly the best meal I’ve had in a long time. Eating in China is like a marathon, not a sprint, and Harrison and I need to start learning how to pace ourselves before we come home looking like sumo wrestlers.
Overall it was a lovely evening. They sent me home with boxes of the local green tea (which is delicious) and I can’t wait to share it with you. SaiSai’s family has been incredibly welcoming and generous to us- opening our eyes to a whole other world outside our Intercontinental Hotel.