Based on a couple of responses to that “iconic Sailor Moon food” post (and the times I’ve come across the topic elsewhere on the Internet), I thought it might be advantageous to clarify the difference between two different kinds of “dumpling” seen and/or referenced in the Sailor Moon world.

First you have the kind of ‘dumpling’ seen frequently in the first season of Sailor Moon. They tend to stick in your memory if you’re a Western fan because the DiC dub consistently localized them as “jam doughnuts”:

These are often referred to as 'dumplings’ in subtitles, though that’s probably not the best way to describe them.
Some think that these are the “odango” that Usagi’s hairstyle gets its nickname name from, but they aren’t. These are nikuman, which is a steamed bun with filling (typically pork). “Niku” means “meat”, and “man” comes from “manju” (a sweet version of a similar concept), so other types of bun can have other names, like “chuukaman” (Chinese bun), “anman” (red bean paste [an] bun), “karee-man” (curry bun), etc.

It’s easy to assume this is what all the characters are referring to, since subtitles often translate both “nikuman” and “odango” as “dumpling”; it’s even more confusing when Mamoru once says Usagi is a cannibal because she’s “an odango eating nikuman”, and the subtitles stretch the joke further by saying “a dumpling eating dumplings”.

But dango (commonly referred to with an honorific 'o’ as 'odango’) are completely different. They are sweet, not savoury, and very small and chewy, made out of rice flour with a similar texture/taste to mochi (another food referenced in/significant to Sailor Moon).

Here’s an example of actual odango from an S episode (they look most like bocchan dango, essentially “tri-colour dango”, or hanami dango, same concept for different situations).

http://clausitosfootprints.com/2011/02/14/japanese-cuisine/

These are what Usagi’s hairstyle is named after, not nikuman - although personally, I think the size, shape, and swirly pattern of nikuman looks a lot more like Usagi’s hair, but I guess “meat bun” isn’t really a cute nickname.

So this is just some vaguely obscure and mildly helpful Sailor Moon trivia!