The War on Drugs Ought to Include Dumplings

I wrote the following in the early Spring of 2005:

I’m just a dude on the pursuit of gastronomic pleasure in Shanghai, China. 1,000 dumplings in just as many hours. Hot and moist mounds of joy, steamed or fried. Vegetable- or pork-filled delights by the dozen, most properly enjoyed on a dirty street corner. My obsession with dumplings, or ‘boazi’ [包子] as they are appropriately called in Mandarin Chinese, can most likely be traced to the addictive powers of MSG. Last time I was in China, I would begin to sweat and shake with anxiety when I went a morning or afternoon without boazi consumption. They are just SO good.

It’s February of 2009 and my feelings haven’t changed a bit. However, I must confess that my goal of eating a thousand dumplings in a little over a month lasted exactly one day. I ate 60 dumplings faster than any man should and subsequently had to take a break for a short while. But besides that hiccup, it’s safe to say that as long as I’m in China, I’m eating dumplings. I’m not scared of Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. And not even the story about cardboard and industrial chemical filling, which broke in the middle of 2007 and can be read here, could stop me! Perhaps it’s the wonderful taste and convenience of 包子 that keeps me coming back for more, time and time again. But more likely, however, it’s the sweet essence of MSG – a food additive that every ex-pat in China knows all too well.