Community is like dumplings

I’ve been using this same recipe for years to feed my daughter, friends and patients.

The range of this is second only in its ability to warm the belly, and begins with the most basic of ingredients: a pinch of salt, cold flour and hot water.

The wrapper is just that. Salt, flour and boiling water. Combined slowly with a pair of Kuàizi, just 1 cup flour to 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons hot water is all it takes. The dough must be needed and worked for at least 5-10 minutes and then left to rest for another 15 (to allow the gluten to form) ~ it takes just a bit of time, and were always aiming for a slightly tacky dough ball.

There’s a charming parallel between making dumplings and tending a community.

Often the ingredients needed for success are easy to obtain, if not already present within the environment.

All difficulty comes with how we organize and share said resources, and how skillfully we reapply what is made known onto what is available.

Dumplings like community are wonderful in any balanced state, whether complex and rich or elegant and simple. Skillful hands make for harmonious labor.

Best filled without harm.