Dumpling eating contest is centerpiece of festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Sara D. Roosevelt Park
East Houston St. between Forsythe & Chrystie Sts.
Saturday, September 25, 12 noon – 5:00 pm
Tasting tickets: $20 for four plates
www.dumplingfestival.com
2009 festival slideshow
Last year’s Dumpling Festival was a major disappointment, and not just because of the steady rain. It was often difficult to figure out which extremely long line you were on, and by the time you got to the front you could see that those particular dumplings had just been picked up at Whole Foods next door, so you were paying five bucks for a few frozen dumplings from a bag of dozens of dumplings that probably cost less than that. Couldn’t they have at least pretended that the dumplings were not prepackaged by hiding the plastic bag? You also had to buy your five-dollar tickets in advance, so as you entered Sara D. Roosevelt Park on the Houston St. side, there were plenty of people willing to sell you their tickets so they could just get the hell out of there. This year someone made the boneheaded decision to make all tickets twenty bucks for four tastings; good luck finding four plates that you really want to try — and wait a long time for. The Dumpling Festival considers any kind of cooked dough with filling a dumpling, so you’ll see more than just Chinese pot stickers, although including pierogis and ravioli is a bit of a stretch. Among the fifteen types of dumplings are Korean kimchi dumplings, Malaysian lemongrass fried dumplings, Asian BBQ pork bao, edamame vegetable dumplings, and deep-fried chicken and pork dumplings. Although that might sound appetizing, be advised that the festival is sponsored by Tang’s Natural, which sells precooked, packaged dumplings in stores, so many of those dumplings you’ll be itching for were indeed just bought frozen at Whole Foods. However, the Dumpling Eating Contest, beginning at 1:00, can be disgustingly fun to watch; the current record is sixty-six dumplings in two minutes for the men, forty-three for the women.