Need Information: Chinese style spaetzle dumplings

[TheTInCook]

I'm trying to track down more information on this food. I came across it on a blog post, but I forgot to bookmark it.

The recipe is simple, just drizzle a little water into a pile of flour, and stir it around until you get little lumps. Just like making struesal (crumb topping for coffee cake). You then cook them directly in the soup.

The original blog post had them cooked in tomato soup. The tomatoes were diced.

Does anyone know the name of the dish and where it comes from? My memory of the pinyin must be really bad, because I can't find it on google. Searching in English just leads me to jiaozi type stuff.

[liuzhou]

I know what I think you mean as 疙瘩汤 gē dá tāng which charmingly translates as "pimple soup", but tends to be known in English as "dough drop soup" which should give you lots of results from Mr. Google. The tomato version is only one of many.

I'm not sure where in China it comes from but I would guess the North.

Edited April 23, 2011 by liuzhou (log)

[TheTInCook]

Yes! That's it! I remember that the post talked about how they were named after warts and such. Thanks!!!!

[TheTInCook]

Here's the blogpost I was talking about!

http://sunflower-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/09/chinese-spatzle-soup-gedatang.html

Thanks again Liuzhou!

[liuzhou]

You are welcome. That's what we are here for!

[TheTInCook]

I think I might do a pictorial of this, since I couldn't find one on egullet. It's too cool a technique not to publish.

*needs to get in the soup mood, and soon!*

[heidih]

My favorite blog Eating Asia discussed them today April 25, 2011 (in case the link goes to the current post) calling them dumpling knots

[TheTInCook]

My favorite blog Eating Asia discussed them today April 25, 2011 (in case the link goes to the current post) calling them dumpling knots

Thanks for the tip! I've bookmarked that blog.

The technique in eating Asia is slightly different then what I had in mind, that's how I make spaetzle since I don't have a colander with good holes.

The technique I was reading about is where you stir just a little bit of water into the flour until it makes little clumps. It never has a chance to reach a dough/batter state. I believe the process for making couscous by hand starts the same way.

[liuzhou]

Yes, it's my fave blog too, and I saw that and thought "What a coincidence!"

But she seems to suggest they are Sichuanese, which I strongly doubt. Like so many Chinese dishes, they have probably travelled a bit. I still think they are of Beijing origin - not that it matters a jot.

[TheTInCook]

It works!

I made a small batch along with dinner. I just cooked them in salted water and drained them, then tossed them with a little oil. They had a pretty nice texture. I didn't test how long they would hold up in soup, I just tossed them into our dinner pasta.

The only problem was that they were inconsistent in size. From cracked pepper, to peanut. So when I drained them, a lot of "glue" stuck to the little bits. Some sort of sieving might be in order. I did break up the larger clumps with my fingers. Also, you cant just dump the water in and stir. It's more like a dribble, stir stir, dribble.

All in all, I think they would make a very good, very quick soup dumpling. I also think they would stand up well to parcooking and draining(letting them dry a little them seemed to help them, if anything), but honestly, they are pretty fast if you just did them a la minute. Not worth the trouble to hold them in raw form, I think.

Pics later. I forgot to take a pic of the dumplings when I had them drained, lol.

[Beebs]

I love mein ge da. It's total comfort food. I usually put a bit of sesame oil and white pepper in the batter and let it rest about 30 to 60 mins. I cook it by tipping the bowl and cutting chunks of batter directly into simmering soup. The soup is a broth of pork and either cabbage or daikon. I like to dip the dumplings in soy sauce and chili paste.

[weinoo]

These seem to be a relative too, of the Sardinian pasta known as fregula (fregola). After those are formed, they're generally toasted in the oven before cooking in a sauce or soup.

[TheTInCook]

I was looking up the Chinese characters for it and I thought it was funny that 面疙瘩 is the name for the dumpling (google translates it to 'gnocchi'), but if you flip it to 疙瘩面, it means pimple face.

[Shalmanese]

In China, this used to be considered the ultimate poverty food, gruel essentially. Now, it's been repurposed as upscale comfort food .

[threestars]

Wow. Lots of great stuffs here. I want to try and attempt to cook one of these. Thanks for the resources and information.

[TheTInCook]

Whoops, I forgot to update.

http://thetincook.blogspot.com/2011/04/pimple-dumplings-aka-knot-dumplings-aka.html