I have loved artistry and craft my whole life, I could never picture myself being a business person shuffling papers for a huge multi-national corporation. I’d probably go insane… or more insane.

But I love helping people and creating something with my hands, and that’s why this is on my bucket list.

The idea of a perfectly formed a pouch of soup broth all made by hand which eventually one day I’d like to make myself. But I’ve had the chance to try soup dumplings many times in China – in Beijing and Shanghai -and they’re all delicious. The ones in Shanghai are amazing.

One of my favourite things about going to a restaurant is that alot of times it has a glass window in to the kitchen where you can see the chefs making them. It’s mesmerising, their hands moving back and forth like machines. They have done it millions of times before and will do it a million times more. Sometimes you’ll also catch an old lady making them for the family as you walk down the city streets and you see a glimpse into their life through the window, it’s beautiful.

But one of the most memorable times I had was in Shanghai. I was wandering through the gold and silver district of Shanghai with its huge buildings and amazing parks, you can smell the money. Eventually I came across a little tiny stand serving soup dumplings, granted the line was bigger than the stand itself but that’s always a good sign, so I stood in line and waited patiently. After what seemed like 26 years I was there in my broken Mandarin Chinese asking to have some pork dumplings.

They kindly said yes and gave them to me it was that easy and it was amazing. I sat down on a sidestreet and just started taking it all in, they were like amazing fluffy little pillows that you bite in to, they explode in your mouth just like Gushers but 10,000 times better. Another moment in Shanghai was with a local I became friends with took me to a soup dumpling place that was world renowned and I had crab row and pork fat dumplings.

I’m not gonna lie they almost made me cry… granted the health Inspector gave this restaurant an F… it must stand for Fun because that’s exactly what it was! This was a place where there were no foreigners, I was the only one. People looked at me wondering how I found this place as my Chinese friend and me squirmed to the corner of the packed restaurant. Biting in to that soup dumpling actually made me cry to this day. As I sit here in Calgary a couple years later I can still remember this meal.

Everybody should get a chance to try the soup dumplings in China. One day I’d like to learn how to make them and if I do that I’ll definitely be doing a video! I love you all and see you in the next post.