Pigeon Egg Dumplings

Pigeon Egg Dumplings

　　The creator of the pigeon egg dumplings was a sweet vendor named Wang Youfa, originally from Suzhou. He had some knowledge of making confectionery and mainly produced treats such as peanut candy, date candy, and hawthorn candy. After making these, he would pack them in baskets and hawk them near the City God Temple close to his home. As the seasons changed, business was fairly good, but when the scorching summer arrived, the sugar-based sweets would easily melt in the heat and were hard to sell. Left with no other choice, Wang Youfa began to think of alternatives. Then, in a moment of inspiration, he hit upon a bright idea: if he used cool and refreshing ingredients to make snacks, wouldn’t they be a delight during the hot months? With this idea in mind, he started experimenting at home. He selected premium glutinous rice, washed it, and ground it into a fine rice flour. Using mint and sugar as fillings, he went through repeated trials and finally succeeded. The key was getting the sugar boiling just right—not too soft or too hard—so that when wrapped inside the dough, it would create a burst of sugary syrup when bitten into. After more than ten meticulous steps, he finally produced the delicate pigeon egg dumplings, eight to the liang (a traditional Chinese unit of weight). When you take a bite, a burst of minty sugar syrup fills your mouth. This refreshing summer dessert earned its name because its color and shape resemble pigeon eggs. It was initially sold exclusively at the Lakeside Pavilion Teahouse. Later on, this famous specialty snack experienced several ups and downs, but the recipe and technique were preserved by the pastry chefs at the Osmanthus Hall near the Nine-Turn Bridge. Back in the day, Liu Chunsan, a well-known “trendy comedian” in Shanghai, would perform crosstalk in front of the Osmanthus Hall during the City God Temple temple fair, attracting large crowds. While visitors were thoroughly enjoying themselves, they often grew hungry and would stop by the Osmanthus Hall. As a result, the sales of pigeon egg dumplings soared. In 1983, during a national cooking competition organized by China’s Ministry of Commerce, Shanghai’s top-tier pastry chef Ge Xian’e won first place, and the pigeon egg dumpling was one of her signature contest dishes.

　　Nowadays, Wang Youfa has long since passed away, so there are very few people who can still make pigeon egg dumplings. However, his successors can be found at the well-established Old Restaurant, a hidden gem. Originally served as a seasonal treat for guests at the Lakeside Pavilion Teahouse’s Delighted Tower, the pigeon egg dumplings are now exclusively made and sold at the Osmanthus Hall, located right across from the Lakeside Pavilion by the Nine-Turn Bridge.

　　How are pigeon egg dumplings made?

　　1. Make the glutinous rice flour into water-milled powder. Take 500 grams of dry milled powder, break it up, and knead it with 150 grams of warm water until smooth and not sticky. Shape it into several round cakes, boil them in water for 15 minutes, then soak them in cold water. Next, take the remaining water-milled powder, break it up, mix it with the cooked glutinous rice cake, and knead everything together until the dough becomes soft, smooth, shiny, and elastic. This will become your wrapper dough. Cover the dough with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out and cracking.

　　2. Place sugar in a pot and add 250 grams of warm water. Cook over low heat while stirring constantly with a spoon. Once the sugar has dissolved, continue cooking for about 10 minutes. When the small bubbles in the syrup gradually turn from spherical to tiny beads, remove the pot from the heat. Dip a bamboo stick into the syrup—if the syrup forms strands 3.5 to 5 cm long when lifted—it’s ready. Add osmanthus sugar and mint essence, pour the mixture onto a work surface, and stir continuously with a spatula until the sugar begins to set. Then, knead it by hand to crush any small sugar granules. Next, roll the mixture into long ropes slightly thicker than chopsticks, cut it into small pieces weighing about 2.5 grams each, and you’ve got your sugar filling.

　　3. Roll the wrapper dough into a long rope, divide it into pieces weighing 12.5 grams each, wrap one sugar filling in each, pinch the seams closed, and shape them into round dumplings resembling pigeon eggs. Boil water in a pot over high heat, gently place the raw dumplings in the boiling water, and use a spoon to lightly stir along the edge of the pot to prevent sticking. Once the dumplings float to the surface, cook them for another 7 minutes until their surfaces turn translucent and glossy like jade. Use a strainer to scoop them out, briefly dip them in cold water to cool them through, then remove and drain.

　　4. Roast white sesame seeds until golden and grind them into powder. Place the powder on a large plate. Take the cooled dumplings one by one, dip each in the sesame powder, and place them sesame-side down on bamboo leaf liners (8–10 dumplings per leaf). Your pigeon egg dumplings are now ready.