Don't Dump on my Dumplings!

Ever since I shared my dumpling lunch with the Korean international students in my elementary school, I've earned myself the nickname of "Mandu", meaning dumpling in Korean. I can't remember if I first tried Korean or Chinese dumplings, but I love dumplings of all varieties--including their distant Polish cousin, the perogy!

They have also taken good care of me throughout both secondary and post secondary school. Whenever I go out for dim sum or family new year gatherings, my darlings never fail to make an appearance. In university, whenever I can't think of a new way to food poison myself, I fry up a batch of my dearest babies! Luckily, I've been cooking them long enough that I'm an expert at frying dumplings, so I haven't managed to poison myself with them just yet.

As many of you can probably guess, I'm pretty excited about the Chinese New Year Mandarin dumpling festival. I'm not sure if they have it every year, but I certainly have the time and means to go for it this year. When I googled: DUMPLING FESTIVAL MANDARIN, I got some guy's ranty post about how a dumpling buffet is a ripoff due to the filling carbs. As a self-proclaimed dumpling connoisseur, I don't see the logic in this argument at all.

First of all, I believe that eating is a highly psychological experience--the right/wrong mood, atmosphere, or presentation can alter one's perceived "appetite". This means that the theoretically "filling" composition of a dumpling will not apply to MY stomach. Secondly, there are WAY WORSE things that are standard to a buffet's menu. By WAY WORSE, I mean oily, and carb-filled. Dumplings can be relatively healthy and non-filling, if you know how to properly choose and enjoy them. Thirdly, I have a few comments about his comment on dumplings not being worth the money you pay for a buffet experience. Again, there are worse things that people can fill up on at a buffet--namely salad, soup, bread, rice, fries, deep fried items (e.g. onion rings), mashed potatoes, ice cream, etc.--and I see people eating these at buffets all the time. I'm sure that these foods are typically cheaper than dumplings when you're talking about grocery store prices ($/unit of food or $/calorie of energy or my favourite: $/units of utility).

Lastly, whenever you're eating at any buffet, I think it's still important to ENJOY what you're eating and avoid getting too hung up on "getting your money's worth". I don't typically see people going to buffets and filling their plates with all the expensive meats. Why? Well, obviously because that would just taste disgusting! Bear in mind, I'm obviously not suggesting you go the totally opposite extreme and eat only 10 bowls of ice cream or a salad. I believe that part of the walk around buffet experience is getting to put together plates of yummy goodness from a wide variety of choices. Just seeing the food, being around the food, and getting ideas from other people and your mealtime companions of what tastes good or not is a crucial part of the experience that you are paying for.

When eating at a normal dine-in restaurant, doesn't it suck when the dish you order doesn't turn out to be anything like the description (in a bad way), but your buddy beside you seems to have ordered the goddess of all foods? Well, too bad! You're stuck with that, and only THAT, disgusting pile of mush for the whole meal!! At best, if your buddy isn't too engrossed in his delectable heaven and is self-sacrificing enough, he'll share maybe a bite or two with you. Well... unlike typical restaurants, at buffets, if someone has something that looks/tastes good, you get multiple opportunities to try to create an enjoyable eating experience for yourself.

Sooooo...on top of all the goodness of buffets, Mandarin is going to have a dumpling buffet! Thank you, God, for the Chinese just this once.