One of the advantages of living in New York City are all the great restaurants. And one of my favorite neighborhoods to eat in is Chinatown. Recently, fellow blogger and friend Mitch (gaynycdad.com) invited me to head down to Chinatown for soup dumplings. Apparently, He and his husband spend quite a bit of time enjoying the good eats at Joe’s Ginger, their favorite place for soup dumplings.
I could hardly refuse their invitation!!
What are soup dumplings you ask? Simply “Xiaolongbao” are little doughy dumplings that are filled with a pork “meatball” and soup. They originated from the Shangai region of China. The dumplings are served in a bamboo basket and are quite hot. But there is a trick to eating them which I learned from watching a CBS Sunday Morning segment on dumplings. P.S. if you don’t watch CBS Sunday Morning, I suggest you do or tape it for later viewing. You can learn so much. But I digress.
To eat a soup dumpling do not just bite into it or you will burn your mouth!! You have to bite a small bit off the top and let the steam escape and then eat it for a delicious morsel that will soothe any appetite.
At Joe’s Ginger, you get 8 dumplings which for me with a bowl of rice is a meal. Mitch and his husband ordered a couple of appetizers. Joe’s Ginger does serve a full slate of appetizers and entrees but we go there just for the dumplings.
After our meal, we wandered Chinatown because you can never get enough of seeing Peking duck in the window. And yes, I could not resist picking up some for later!
Joe’s Ginger is located on 25 Pell St. Be forewarned it is not a fancy place at all. It does get crowded so you may have to share a table but hey it’s always fun to interact with others.
What was your happy moment of the week?
Happy Moments – Elton John Farewell Concert Tour
Disclosure: My culinary opinion is 100% my own. Me, myself and I paid for the pleasure of knoshing.
