A quest for the famed soup dumplings from Wangfujing has begun. After trekking across town in the extreme summer heat, you see a towering, ornate gate. This gate acts as a passageway from regular Yokohama, to it’s bustling Chinatown. From the second you step across the barrier, culinary choices bombard you. What do you do?

Wangfujing

 I could watch her make dumplings for hours 

Shrimp Soup Dumpling

Food and weapon of mouth destruction

The Dumplings arrived after about 15 minutes of waiting. A soup spoon, a small bowl, and some chopsticks were handed to me. Being pretty new to the soup dumpling scene, I had no clue what the bowl and spoon were for. I took the chopsticks in hand, picked up the first dumpling, and took a bite right out of the side.

Bam!

Soup went flying all over the table, my mouth, and my shirt. The delicious broth mixed with the shrimp to create a wonderful and light taste. It also created a second-degree burn in my mouth. Fighting off the pain, I worked without success, to try and eat the others with less mess.

Damn. I wanted more.

Meat Soup Dumpling

I drank all the soup first, and it’s still juicy

I was now onto the second set of dumplings. Having had time to come up with a new method to eat them, I took action. First, I held the bowl near my mouth, picked up the dumpling with my chopsticks, and attacked from the nipple like protrusion at the top.

Sucking like a baby thirsty from being stuck in the desert, I was able to extract some soup. I also managed to pop the dumpling from the seam, and spilled the remaining contents into the bowl. The first taste was marvelous. Soon I was devouring the makeshift wonton soup I had just created on accident. God, was it super flavorful. The broth was rich and complimented the almost sweet pork.

Once I made it to my last dumpling, someone kindly instructed me in the proper eating method.

The Method

Dumpling put onto the spoon; chopstick pokes a hole in the dumpling, soup drips into the spoon, eat over the bowl. No fuss, no muss.

Pan Fried Soup Dumplings

These fried soup dumplings are the most popular choice among foreigners and the restaurant’s signature dish. I decided to try them. The flavors were vegetable and meat.

Green = vegetable

The vegetable dumpling was green with a fried and crispy bottom. Following the eating method above I was able to enjoy soup and dumpling as one. I wasn’t too big on this flavor as the vegetable taste was very overpowering. The filling also seemed to have meat, so I’m sure it wasn’t vegetarian.

This = Tasty

The meat version looked like the vegetable one, but not green. Having become a pro, I ate these dumplings no problem. The broth on this one was a bit richer than any of the others, which was nice. I think the meat dried out a little in the process of pan frying, but it did not bother me much. The wrapper was a bit crispy and pleasantly chewy.

The fried dumplings are very convenient to find. Wangfujing has stands outside most of it’s locations just for them.  I would absolutely not hesitate to grab them if I was walking by and wanted a snack.

Overall I enjoyed the steamed ones better.

Worth the Journey

Soup dumpling champions

Wangfujing is famous for these dumplings, they have been on TV, have at least three locations, and a history that goes back over one hundred years (allegedly.)

Suffice to say; these dumplings were excellent. I have heard various opinions about if they stack up to the ones you can find in Taiwan, China, or elsewhere. Having never been to any of those places, I can’t compare them. I will say that I enjoyed myself at Wangfujing, and want to try the buffet to see if the other offerings are as good.