Chicken and dumplings — a whole chicken simmered until falling apart in a rich broth, then strips or balls of biscuit-like dough cooked in the same broth until tender — is the Southern comfort food that occupies the same emotional territory as matzo ball soup (AM4-13) in the Jewish tradition and *phở* in the Vietnamese: the restorative, the cure, the food that grandmothers make when something has gone wrong. The Southern tradition splits into two dumpling styles: **flat dumplings** (rolled and cut into strips, like thick noodles — the Appalachian and Deep South standard) and **drop dumplings** (spooned from a soft dough into the broth, producing pillowy rounds — the upper South standard). Both are correct; the preference reveals geography.
A whole chicken simmered in water with celery, onion, carrot, and herbs for 1-2 hours until the meat falls from the bone. The chicken is removed, the meat shredded, the broth strained. Dumplings — either flat strips (rolled from a flour-shortening-milk dough and cut into 3cm-wide strips) or drop rounds (spooned from a biscuit-like dough) — are cooked in the simmering broth for 10-15 minutes. The shredded chicken returns to the pot. The broth should be thick and slightly cloudy from the starch the dumplings release — this is the desired consistency, not a flaw.
1) The broth is the foundation — a whole chicken (not parts, not boneless) simmered long enough to extract collagen from the bones and joints. The broth must be rich enough to be a meal before the dumplings go in. 2) Flat dumplings: roll thin (3-4mm), cut into strips. They cook in 8-10 minutes and produce a thickened, starchy, pasta-like result. 3) Drop dumplings: spoon from a soft biscuit dough into the simmering broth. They cook in 12-15 minutes, lid on, and produce fluffy, cloud-like balls. 4) Do not stir after adding the dumplings — they're delicate and stirring breaks them apart.
The broth should be cloudy — the starch from the dumplings thickens the broth into something between a soup and a stew. This is the texture; clear broth with dumplings floating in it is not chicken and dumplings. Edna Lewis's version uses flat dumplings made with a rich, butter-shortening dough and the broth from a hen (older, tougher, more flavourful than a young chicken).
Using boneless, skinless chicken breast — the broth will be thin and flavourless. Stirring the dumplings — they shred. Lifting the lid during cooking (drop dumplings) — they need the trapped steam to cook through.
Edna Lewis — The Taste of Country Cooking; Nathalie Dupree — Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking