The Dumpling Salad: Spilled Milk #260

Punchy ginger dressing, potstickers and a clean vegetable crisper? Yes please!

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For years I have made dumplings of all kinds, from siu mai to guotie, from wontons to har gow, from xiao long bao to shengjian bao. I love them all, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg in the dumpling world.

At the bottom you will find links galore to all sorts of dumplings and ways to cook them. I make them by the many dozens and freeze most. I do that on trays, then bag them carefully once frozen. No broken or leaky dumplings.

They can all be steamed or pan fried or boiled or deep fried right from the freezer. They make the easiest of late-night dinners or weekend lunches. I can’t get enough dumplings in my life. Some people can eat tacos five times a week. That’s how I am about dumplings.

And then I saw it. A gajillion likes on Instagram for a culifluencer (I just coined that) for their dumpling salad with Trader Joe’s sesame dressing. A brilliant viral moment. I applauded. And from a food standpoint, we can also do much better. I knew I loved the idea, so I went to work.

• We can make fresh dumplings.

• We can cook them in something other than an air fryer.

• We can make a fresh punchy dressing that really only takes 45-60 seconds and makes a world of difference.

• We can empty the vegetable drawer AND still be intentional about what we put in our salad at the same time.