It's time for a soup dumpling showdown, West Coast vs. East Coast style. Who's got the best soup dumpling? Is it NYC Chinatown's popular Joe's Shanghai, or Arcadia's famed Din Tai Fung?
I did a little investigation around Christmastime:
Size - DTF dumplings come in cute bite-sized morsels, whereas JS's dumpling are twice the size (traditional Shanghai Xialongbao size). On the whole, JS's dumplings being larger, although are messier to eat, are more satisfying and substantial. But you can't deny the craftsmanship of DTF's tiny dumplings! Each one is perfectly made, and being that they are so small, are more demanding in the construction process, therefore more props to DTF.
Soup - I find the ratio of soup to filling to be higher in JS's dumplings. In fact you can get a whole spoonful of soup from one JS dumpling! JS's soup tends to be oilier than DTF, but hey, more fat, more flavor!
Skin - A literally make-it-or-break-it kinda deal for me, and unfortunately, JS's dumpling skins break very easily. It's so heartbreaking to watch your precious soup spill everywhere when you're trying to carefully pick up a soup dumpling only to have the skin break. Argh! Maybe it's b/c there's so much soup that makes JS's dumpling too heavy? But DTF's dumpling skins are AMAZING! Even though the skin's paper-thin, no matter how badly you hold the dumpling, even poke it a little bit, the skin remains resilient and won't break! Plus, great texture and bite.
Taste - Both JS & DTF pork dumplings are very porky and flavorful. I find that DTF filling has a more notable scallion flavor, which to me is more reminiscent of boiled dumplings (jiaozi) than steamed dumplings (xiaolongbao). The crab dumplings however vary tremendously in taste. DTF's are made with, and tastes distinctively of, crab meat, whereas JS's dumplings are made with crab roe. JS's crab roe dumplings are therefore oilier and has more of a flavor akin to uni (just not as sweet as uni).
Conclusion - I can't help but love DTF for it's cute bite-sized dumplings that will not leak no matter what. However, JS crab dumplings really cannot be beat in terms of taste... So it's an even match: 1-1.
Size - DTF dumplings come in cute bite-sized morsels, whereas JS's dumpling are twice the size (traditional Shanghai Xialongbao size). On the whole, JS's dumplings being larger, although are messier to eat, are more satisfying and substantial. But you can't deny the craftsmanship of DTF's tiny dumplings! Each one is perfectly made, and being that they are so small, are more demanding in the construction process, therefore more props to DTF.
Soup - I find the ratio of soup to filling to be higher in JS's dumplings. In fact you can get a whole spoonful of soup from one JS dumpling! JS's soup tends to be oilier than DTF, but hey, more fat, more flavor!
Skin - A literally make-it-or-break-it kinda deal for me, and unfortunately, JS's dumpling skins break very easily. It's so heartbreaking to watch your precious soup spill everywhere when you're trying to carefully pick up a soup dumpling only to have the skin break. Argh! Maybe it's b/c there's so much soup that makes JS's dumpling too heavy? But DTF's dumpling skins are AMAZING! Even though the skin's paper-thin, no matter how badly you hold the dumpling, even poke it a little bit, the skin remains resilient and won't break! Plus, great texture and bite.
Taste - Both JS & DTF pork dumplings are very porky and flavorful. I find that DTF filling has a more notable scallion flavor, which to me is more reminiscent of boiled dumplings (jiaozi) than steamed dumplings (xiaolongbao). The crab dumplings however vary tremendously in taste. DTF's are made with, and tastes distinctively of, crab meat, whereas JS's dumplings are made with crab roe. JS's crab roe dumplings are therefore oilier and has more of a flavor akin to uni (just not as sweet as uni).
Conclusion - I can't help but love DTF for it's cute bite-sized dumplings that will not leak no matter what. However, JS crab dumplings really cannot be beat in terms of taste... So it's an even match: 1-1.
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