Lake County residents looking to celebrate National Dumpling Day on Thursday can try Dangela’s Dumplings, at 133 North Milwaukee Ave. in Libertyville, a small piece of authentic Chinese cuisine dropped into the Chicago suburbs. Although the day isn’t federally recognized, it’s enough of an excuse to drop by one of the few places in Lake County serving the traditional Asian dish.
Dumplings can be seen in numerous cultures, and a variety of shapes and sizes. At Dangela’s, the dumplings are made with a circle wrapper, about the size of someone’s palm, made of flour and water. They’re wrapped around a dollop of filling into a crescent moon shape, then either pan-fried or boiled.
Angela Xu prepares a batch of dumplings at her restaurant. Sept. 26 is National Dumpling Day.
(Joe States/Lake County News-Sun) The restaurant is named after owner Angela Xu, but starts with the first letter of her husband’s name, Dan. Xu prided herself on authenticity; the recipes and techniques are drawn from her mother and grandmother, who come from the Northeastern regions of China. Xu came to America in 2009 to pursue a master’s degree in business.
She got the idea for a restaurant after seeing her friend’s reactions to her mother’s dumplings when she came to visit. “It’s very hard to find authentic ones in America, especially in the suburbs,” she said. “So we decided to introduce authentic dumplings.
” By the end of 2019, that idea would become Dangela’s Dumplings. It .