Ever take a minute to think about the design and intricacy of dumplings? This delicious style of food has been at the forefront of dishes in Asia for centuries and has become something of a hot trend here in Stockholm over the last few years.

But according to some of Stockholm’s best chefs, the art of Chinese cuisine and dumplings hasn’t excelled in our city – “Stockholm has kind of been stuck in a rut with Chinese,” chef Daniel Frick told us.

Daniel is one of three business partners that has bought Stockholm Lux Dag För Dag, EAT, and BAR. “Most of what was being offered wasn’t being made from fresh ingredients and was inauthentic. We wanted to change that with EAT and possibly bring a higher standard for this cuisine and more particularly dumplings.”

So how did Daniel and his colleagues Henrik Norström and Peter Johansson come to find the secret to great dumplings? It started with a trip to Hong Kong to visit a friend. Soon after they held auditions in Beijing and Sichaun in search of great Chinese and dumpling chefs. Over 30 chefs auditioned, and three were chosen. After a long wait and much anticipation the chefs arrived in Stockholm to help the already-opened EAT.

And now, with their dumplings school every Thursday, we also get a chance to learn to make them. “We want to show Swedes the right way to do dumplings from the real experts. We spent a lot of time trying to prefect our dumplings and thanks to these Chinese chefs, we really think we have the best in the city,” Daniel explains. “In Sweden most chefs know how to do many dishes very well, but in China everyone has a specific role where they become absolute experts, either dumplings, dim-sum or something else. We’ve acquired these dumpling masters to teach the people of Stockholm.”

Chef Chen Xueqin, one of the three Chinese chefs, is very enthusiastic about the craft while he shows me how to make five different dumplings including Wonton, steamed crab with a wheat dough, crispy duck with pumpkin dough, pork dumpling with wheat dough, and a pork mushroom truffle blend with crystal dough. “Dumpling traditions vary throughout the Chinese regions. The South and central regions are more about sweet and sour flavours while the north likes a stronger or spicier taste,” he explains. Chef Chen is full of life and very enthusiastic about the craft, which makes for a great teacher. Our other teacher, Chef Yang, although not very versed in English, is great at visually showing her technique. She has been making dumplings in South China for over 35 years. Chef Chen has been has been making Chinese cuisine for much of the same in the North. So when Daniel said he got the experts – he wasn’t kidding.

And what’s the best part? Eating your creations of course!

Luckily, since they obviously don’t want people to absolutely muck up the end product, EAT provides great fillings for the dumplings to ensure the taste will always be fantastic. So in the end, no matter how bad your dumplings may look, they still taste delicious. Classes are offered every Thursday.

Call 08-509 203 00 or email info@eatrestaurant.se to reserve a spot.

Words by Angela Markovic