Similar yet entirely different. Two titans in the appetizer section of the menu. Maybe even the best two of all time?

You're probably asking, "Andrés, how can I possibly choose between these two great things?"

Let me set your mind at ease.

Vote for empanadas, and here's why: https://twitter.com/DGerowPR/status/1313085750402056193

White America is ruining dumplings.

Dumplings are meant to be a cheap, delicious way to sate hunger and keep us warm created by our friends in (some say) China.

You should be able to (and still can in SOME parts) get a dumpling very cheaply anywhere, but as food gets gentrified the cheap dumpling is disappearing.

More often now you'll see dumplings listed on a menu for like 3 for $10 and they're not even Wai-po's or Nai-nai's recipes. It's some dude probably named Jacobyn who spent a summer traveling around Asia and now thinks he's a master of Asian foods.

The empanada is going through a similar struggle BUT due to the constant influx of Hispanic immigrants, it's still easy to find a cheap empanada. The best part is that it's probably abuela's recipe because there's a 97% chance that abuela is the one running the kitchen.

So the tl;dr is: a vote for Empanadas is a vote against gentrification.

Also, make dumplings cheap again.

We are The Empanada Cartel and we approve this message.

PS - Go to your local Asian-Latin fusion joint and they probably have both on the menu...