Anthony brought the Chicken Saag filling. These were tasty, as long as you thought of them as spinach dumplings, since there was so little chicken in them. As Anthony aptly put it, they should have been called Saag Chicken, not Chicken Saag. They also could have done with a pinch of salt.

Heather brought the Herby Turkey filling and the Green Goddess Dip. I liked this combo, though she did spruce up the filling with sugar, sweet vinegar, salt, pepper, cardamom, cumin, and TJ’s 21, because when she tasted the filling (before adding the turkey) it seemed bland and too bitter from the lime zest. And she used yogurt instead of mayo for the dip.

Darren brought the fixings for Szechuan Wontons in Chili Oil. These were great, no dipping sauce needed as they were already dressed in a yummy chili oil. They tasted so good I didn’t even mind being deprived of the opportunity to dip!

John brought the filling for Pork Shanghai Soup Dumplings. I was very excited about this because while I’ve eaten many a soup dumpling, I’ve never actually inquired into the magic of how they were made. Turns out the “soup” comes from a super gelatinous stock that is pretty solid at room temp, but then liquifies when the dumpling is cooked. The trick is closing the wrapper to keep the soup sealed in, which we did successfully – awesome!

Cindy made the Pea Shoots & Leek filling. If you had asked me before the event, this would not have been one of the dumplings I was most looking forward to. I like meat, and have always found veggie dumplings (usually mostly cabbage) disappointing. But these were a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed the texture and flavor, and found myself going back several times for more.

Jeff brought the fixings for the Spicy Beef & Shiso Dumplings. These were one of the fan favorites of the night. The filling had good flavor, and was complemented nicely with the shiso, which if you’ve never had it has a very herbal almost grassy taste to it. Great with soy-based dips.

Jeff also brought the filling for Edamame Dumplings. In the dumpling frenzy, I somehow managed to miss the chance to taste these. Sad times for me as I thought these sounded appealing. The recipe appears dead simple to make, so perhaps I’ll try making them on my own some time.

Brad made Soy-Vinegar Dip, Spicy Peanut Dip, and Lemon Sansho Dip. It was great fun trying all the dumplings with all the dips. I couldn’t pick a favorite, which just meant I had to keep going back for more! He also brought dough for making homemade wrappers. It was great fun watching him roll out wrappers by hand, and occasionally lose one on the floor 🙂

Cherry made Classic Pork & Chinese Chive Dumplings. These were indeed classic, a wonderful platform for trying all the dipping sauces. She did a great job making them nicely plump and meaty!

Shayna made Glazed Barbecued Pork Dumplings. She said they didn’t have as much of the barbecue sauce as she would have liked, but I really enjoyed these. They had a nice salty-sweetness, good with or without added dipping sauces.

Alyssa made Spicy Beef & Shiso Dumplings. Just as with the first party, these were a hit. And Alyssa took the extra step of assembling them quite beautifully with the shiso leaves.

Alyssa also made Pearl Dumplings, Vinegar-Ginger Dip, and Toasted Sesame-Soy Dip. Unlike the other dumplings consisting of filling folded into noodle wrappers, these dumplings are beef balls rolled in a rice coating. Not only do they look cool, but they are a great vehicle for all kinds of dipping sauces.

As a bonus, Alyssa made sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. This was not from the cookbook, but I love sticky rice, so it’s always welcome in my book!

I made Kimchi Beef Dumplings. And credit to Brad – I used his homemade dough to make the wrappers – thanks Brad! There is not in fact any kimchi in these dumplings, but the filling includes cabbage and gochujang to simulate the kimchi flavor. I was afraid these would be too heavy on the cabbage, but they turned out nice and meaty.

Michael made Herby Turkey Dumplings with Green Goddess Dip. After hearing how Heather modified this recipe, Michael decided to see how it would work out if he followed the recipe exactly. They turned out quite tasty, though he did comment that he thinks he would have preferred yogurt instead of mayo for the dip, which is how Heather did it.

Colin made Butternut Squash-Corn Dumplings. I wasn’t sure how I was going to like the sweetness of these dumplings, but they added some nice variety. I especially liked the pop that the corn added.

Brian made Mom’s Cilantro & Pork Dumplings. These were very much what in my mind is the standard dumpling, and that’s not a bad thing! I think this is a good recipe for covering your basic expectations – you wouldn’t want to have a dumpling party without it.

Brian also made Chilly Chile Rice Noodles. Despite the name, this dish doesn’t actually have any chiles in it. It was quite good though – the noodles were great for absorbing the soy sesame vinaigrette, which was so good I want to put it on lots of things.

And for his third dish (yay overachievers!), Brian made Chopstick Salad with Cucumber, Jicama, and Wakame. Wakame is seaweed, and I liked the flavor it added, but overall I felt that this dish was a bit on the bland side.

Sheana made Warm Sesame Noodles. These were some yummy noodles. I kept calling them peanut noodles instead of sesame noodles, as I think there was a fair amount of peanut butter involved, but regardless of what you might think is the core flavor, they were a tasty treat.

Sheana also made Quickles. I am a sucker for pickled things, and these were no exception. Great crunch and color. She was worried they might be too salty as there was a lot of salt in the recipe, but I thought they were just fine and perfect to go with all the dumplings.

Peggy made Citrus-Ginger Salad. This was a great accompaniment to all the meat and noodles. It had Asian pear slices to lend a touch of sweetness, and the ginger and blood orange juice gave it a wonderful freshness.

Michael also made Mango Lassi Ice Pops. I adore a good mango lassi, so I was very happy he was making these. They were tasty, but I thought they were a bit on the icy side for me – I was hoping they would be creamier.

Revi made Cardamom Rice Pudding. She felt like these were a fail, and even brought chocolate chip cookies (her own recipe) to make up for it. I actually thought the flavors were quite nice, but the textures seemed off. The rice seemed very separate from the liquid, and the chutney was so dense and chewy that it didn’t mix into the rice pudding, so the various components didn’t come together.

Cindy made Green Tea-Marshmallow Treats. She said these are simply Rice Krispie treats with matcha added, which is awesome because I loved them. They are a fun twist on an old favorite, and the color is fantastic!