How to eat a soup dumpling

by Robert Zhu, New York City Guide

Utensils: A Chinese soup spoon and a pair of chopsticks 

Sauce/Condiments: Chinese dark vinegar, chili oil 

1. Grip the top portion of the soup dumping and transport it onto the soup spoon. (Try not to break the wrapping. No worries if it breaks, that’s why we use the Chinese soup spoon to catch the leak) 

2. Bite the tip of the soup dumping off to let the steam out, make sure the bite is big enough to allow sauce to be poured in, like half an inch. 

3. Blow into the bite opening you just created to cool down the dumpling, this is crucial, because the soup in the dumpling may be very hot. 

4. Pour dark vinegar and chili oil into the bite opening to further cool down the dumpling.

 5. Make sure the dumpling is not steaming hot anymore, raise the spoon and transport the bite size soup dumpling into your mouth in one bite, chew and enjoy the bursts of flavors.  

Note:  My friend Roger Chen once told me that if the soup dumpling is bigger than a one-bite size, you can also suck out some of the soup from the hole you’ve created before biting into the dumpling.