Making dumplings at home is one of the most rewarding cooking projects available — not because it is quick, but because the process itself is the point. Gathering to make dumplings is a tradition in Chinese households for good reason: the folding requires two hands, the conversation fills the time, and the result is food…

Dim sum is one of the most convivial eating experiences in the world — small dishes, shared across the table, ordered steadily over the course of a long meal. For first-timers, it can also be bewildering: a trolley of unlabelled steamers, a menu in Cantonese, and the feeling that everyone around you knows something you…

A great dumpling looks simple. It is not. Behind every well-made dumpling is a sequence of decisions and techniques that, when executed correctly, are invisible to the person eating it. Understanding how dumplings are made changes how you experience them — and gives you a vocabulary for recognising quality. Stage 1: The Dough Most Chinese…