Noodles, Dumplings, & Springrolls

Noodles and dumplings enjoy a huge popularity in China, as might be expected in a country with an abundance of grains to make them, an inexhaustible population to shape them, and a philosophy of eating that emphasizes play and pleasure at the table. In the south, where the staple is rice, rice noodles and rice noodle-wrapped dumplings are prime teatime snacks. In the north, where wheat is the predominant starch, wheat and egg noodles and wheat flour-wrapped dumplings are everyday mealtime fare. They are variously steamed, boiled, pan-fried, deep-fried, and pulled from soups or dunked in dips. The range is limitless, and so too the Chinese enjoyment of them.