Dumplings

These savory, cheesy, herb-flecked Italian dumplings are a simple and elegant early spring dinner. The fresh ricotta and parmesan gnudi are buried in semolina flour overnight (or up to a few days), which allows a thin skin to form around each dumpling. That skin helps these delicate dumplings hold their shape while they simmer. 

The Year of the Tiger starts February 1, when the Lunar New Year is celebrated in Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Tibetan, South Korean, Indonesian, Singaporean, and Malaysian communities around the world. Not surprisingly, food is one of the most popular ways to celebrate the holiday, especially with dishes like dumplings, spring rolls, noodles, and whole fish and chicken that symbolize good luck and fortune in the year ahead. Here are a few recipes to help you ring in the Year of the Tiger.

The ideal combination of crispy and chewy, these garlicky pork and shrimp dumplings from Anita Lo are weeknight-friendly thanks to store-bought wrappers. The filling, a quick stir-together mix of pork, shrimp, napa cabbage, garlic chives, ginger, garlic, and pantry staples such as soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and oyster sauce, comes together in a flash. Before pleating the filled dumplings, moisten the edges just slightly so they stick together. Lo prefers white store-bought wrappers over yellow ("the yellow is just food dye," she says) and as fresh as you can find. As a tip for determining freshness, she suggests looking at them through the package: Avoid any that are dry and cracked at the edges; those will be less fresh—and less pliable—when it's time to fold them.

Dumplings made of day-old pretzels and bound with egg are common in Germany; they're a delicious way to use up stale bread and are great to serve alongside Roasted Goose Legs, soaking up gravy on the plate. Food & Wine editor Melanie Hansche's version, an homage to the flavors of her hometown of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, uses pretzel rolls, which she leaves out on the kitchen counter, uncovered, overnight. If you can't source pretzel rolls, any plain bread rolls will do. You can make the dumplings the day before and refrigerate overnight before simmering them to serve. It's not traditional to make them with mustard, but Hansche likes to add some to hers: "It's a such a lovely bedfellow with pretzels!" she says. These dumplings can be made 1 day ahead; just cover and chill until you are ready to cook them.

An aromatic blend of ground coriander, ginger, and lemongrass pairs with umami-rich fish sauce to season these delicate pork dumplings. "The first thing I think about when I dream of my visits to Indonesia are kaki lima, the multicolored carts selling noodles, snacks, and very often bakso (Indonesian meatballs)," says chef Tom Pisha-Duffly of Gado Gado in Portland, Oregon, one of Food & Wine's Best New Restaurants in 2020. "The loud signs painted on the glass of the cart barely obscure the piles of bouncy meatballs and delicately piled bunches of noodles waiting to be drowned in steaming, aromatic soup. This dish incorporates that feeling in a smaller package, using a wonton skin to mimic the noodle but still paying homage to the springy, funky meatball and its slippery, rich broth."

Make-ahead mushroom duxelles makes a rich filling for these tender, satisfying dumplings. The broth, infused with toasted ginger and garlic, gets an extra layer of rich mushroom flavor from dried white flower shiitake mushrooms, which have a bolder flavor than regular dried shiitakes, which are a fine substitute.