Such Russian dumplings are one of the names in a whole group of dishes that represent a filling( meat, fish, vegetables or their mixture), wrapped in a thin dough. Each country has its own varieties of "our" pelmeni: in Italy - exquisite ravioli, in the Caucasus - succulent manti and khinkali, in China - mysterious chiaozi.
A little about the features of
The history of pelmeni begins in China, and until the 13th century this dish was pleased exclusively by the inhabitants of this empire. A little later the recipe reached Siberia, where it became firmly entrenched and acquired the familiar form now.
The main feature of pelmeni is a rather thin shell of dough. This is very simple due to historical facts - in regions of special distribution of the dish it was very easy to get meat, but it is difficult - the flour and eggs. The size of the dumplings is made in such a way that they can be eaten individually, this distinguishes them from the eastern "relatives".Another feature of the dish - for cooking use only raw unsweetened stuffing, which is not typical for yet another "relatives" - vareniki.
Traditional Siberian dumplings have a special taste due to the distinctive technique of filling. It includes local types of meat - elk, bear, wild bird, everything that can be obtained by hunting. Sometimes they can include berries - cranberries, blueberries, cloudberries.
There are some traditions associated with the dish. One of them is modeling "happy" pelmeni - one of them is put a special stuffing, for example: pepper - for love, a coin - for prosperity, and absolutely no stuffing - fortunately.
Also important is the serving of the dish - if the owner has spread the ravioli to each guest in a separate bowl, he wants them to leave his house as soon as possible, but if in common, this indicates friendliness and the desire to stay longer with the guests. The serving of the dish along with the broth, in any case, was considered the height of disrespect.
Pelmeni in other countries
In its homeland - in China - the dish is still very popular. There it is called jiaozi, they have a flattened shape, in size, like the usual dumpling. Jiaozi is usually used with hot sauces - chili or ginger-soy. For fillings, except for meat, prawns, fish, mushrooms and cabbage are very often used.
In Japan, dumplings are called gedza. They are stuffed with chopped pork, mixed with cabbage and garlic. Gedza is not boiled, but fried in a frying pan and served with a bowl full of soy sauce.
Ravioli are free Italian dumplings. Freestyle, because in their preparation there are no rules - the shape and filling can be absolutely anything, from meat to berry.
Famous Georgian khinkali also have a common principle with the pelmeni. In size, they are much larger, the dough is tucked from above in the form of a pouch. When cooking, a lot of juice is allocated, which must be preserved inside, to get a complete picture of taste, so they do not pierce with a fork, but eat with their hands.