Dumplings filled with smoothly minced prawns and spices. Served with seasoned soy sauce. Krua appetizer sampler, $11
Krua Thai, San Francisco
Nice and shrimpy fried dumplings, noms! I’ve decided that I’m no longer a fan of the large pork siu mai that you get for dim sum. These, however, were delicious! 🙂
Japanese fried pot stickers with pork. $4.95 happy hour
Kama Sushi, San Francisco
Combine hot, fried gyoza with the salty, vinegary dipping sauce and you have a winner! Gyoza has to be one of my favorite items to order at Japanese places, and these were very good especially for the discounted happy hour price! Gotta love Kama Sushi!
Large Sapporo beer. $3.50 happy hour
Holy monster Shanghai soup dumpling! Apparently, these are usually served with a straw so you can suck up all the excess soup from the bottom of the dish. The dough is way thicker than a normal sized soup dumpling and it has a different texture. I guess some people don’t even eat the wrapper. While I appreciate the novelty of this giant dumpling, but I prefer the smaller version to actually eat! 20 minutes for order. $2.50
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
I must say that these Shanghai soup dumplings rival those at Shanghai Dumpling King in San Francisco. These definitely come a close second. The soup inside is very delicious as is the pork filling. The dumpling skin is resilient enough to withstand my amateur chopstick handling. I’ve learned that they taste even better when eaten with the accompanying vinegar sauce. Just don’t get too anxious like me and burn your mouth with the hot soup inside – rookie mistake. Hehe! 8 pieces for $6.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
A perfect spoonful!
I love the garlicky vinegar sauce.
Steamed Shanghai meat (pork) and soup dumplings.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco
Are you kidding me?! This has got to be one of the worst Shanghai soup dumplings I’ve ever tried. I remember someone once saying that they didn’t like it when xiao long bao are steamed in foil cups, and now I know why! This dumplings were so dry and barely had any soup inside. The wrappers were thick and gummy, and the metallic reflection of the foil seemed sad compare to the beautiful, transulent green of a napa cabbage leaf or even a parchment round. If you want to try Shanghai soup dumplings for the first time, do not go to Ton Kiang!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Steamed then pan fried green chives and shrimp dumplings.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco
I’ve mentioned before that these dumplings are one of my favorite kinds of dim sum. I love the strong, sharp taste of the garlic chives and the crisp texture of the fried ends. These dumplings at Ton Kiang, however, were SO tiny! They were the size of those frozen dim sum dumplings you get at Asian markets that always seem to be on sale. Naturally, these 4 dumplings went down quickly and barely made a dent in our dim sum hunger. I also remember the filling being somewhat dense and dry. This maybe one of my favorite dumplings, but this version was a disappointment.
Dipping sauces. The yellow sauce was hot mustard, but I’m not sure what was the green sauce.
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Steamed shrimp dumplings wrapped in a translucent wheat and tapioca starch wrapper.
Ton Kiang, San Francisco
Har gow is one of my favorite dim sum items because it’s delicious and the least scary looking thing on the roving carts (or trays in the case of Ton Kiang). I didn’t like a lot of the dim sum at Ton Kiang, but I did like these. They were filled with HUGE chunks of shrimp and had a great flavor! The wrapper was on the thick side, but it wasn’t tough or dry. Still a favorite! (Thank god Ton Kiang didn’t ruin this one for me.)
Complimentary green tea.
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Deep fried pork potstickers with gyoza sauce.
Crazy Sushi, San Francisco
An order of gyoza at Crazy Sushi only comes with 4 potstickers, but they are delicious! Oh, how I love gyoza! Hey, you can’t go wrong with deep fried pork in a crispy dumpling wrapper. These were steaming hot out of the fryer, and dunking then in the salty/umami gyoza sauce puts them over the top. I could seriously eat a tray of these.
I don’t even like fresh oranges that much, but I do appreciate when sushi bars serve complimentary fruit like these segmented oranges because it’s nice when they take the time to cut and prepare extra treats for their guests. Yay!
Steamed soup dumplings with a pork filling atop a napa cabbage leaf. $5.50
Shanghai Dumpling King, San Francisco
These dumplings were SO delicious! I only ripped one or two while trying to eat them with chopsticks so I was particularly proud of myself. When I first had these, I wondered how they got the soup inside the dumplings. Apparently, the dumplings are made with a pork filling and a gelatin aspic. The aspic melts into a “soup” when the dumplings are steamed – genius! These are very fun to eat and Shanghai Dumpling King’s are some of the best in San Francisco.
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
November 17, 2013. So I guess they’re not using the napa cabbage on the bottom anymore. That’s a shame.
I wasn’t a fan of these dumplings. They were quite large and the wrapper was too thick, glutinous, and easily torn. It’s always sad when you lose the dumpling filling because of a weak wrapper. This dim sum was weak, indeed!
So California Assembly Bill 376 would ban the possession, sale, and trade of shark fins in the state of California. It’s suppose to be heard before the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Monday, August 15th in Sacramento. We’ll see what happens! I have to admit that I’ve never wondered if I’m eating real shark fin in dim sum. For some reason, I always assumed it was imitation shark fin. I know that’s ignorant of me, so I’m curious to see what happens with AB 376. I definitely don’t agree with the practice of shark finning, but would this bill also ban shark fins that were harvested without finning? My assumption would be YES, but I’ll have to read more about the debate.
Regardless, I don’t know if I can even distinguish the shark fin flavor or texture in these dumplings from any other similar dumplings. In that regard, I probably wouldn’t be affected by the shark fin ban but opponents of the bill cite cultural reasons. Sounds fishy to me (pardon the pun)!
Umami has to be my favorite flavor, and this dish delivers plenty of it! There is a lot of hype about these dumplings, particularly the sauce, and I must join in. You can’t go wrong with a sauce full of soy, butter, and MORE butter! We tried scooping up as much of it with eat bite. The dumplings themselves were cooked perfectly – not too mushy, with a bit of a bite to the pasta. Count me in on the bandwagon!
Vittle Monster 