Hello From one foodie to another
Joe's Shanghai - Soup Dumplings (小笼包）
By now, I’ve seen the name, Joe’s Shanghai, on many ‘must-try’ lists. Many people have told me that their soup dumplings are out of this world and that it is the only worthwhile dish. Since the rest of their menu was rather uninspired, I’ll focus on their famous soup dumplings (小笼包).
Soup dumplings are a well known dish, generally eaten at dim sum. They are steamed dumplings filled with ground pork and, most importantly, soup.
We went to the Joe’s Shanghai’s midtown branch, in the heart of 5th avenue’s fine shopping district. On my way, I found myself having to claw my way through masses of eager tourists. Midtown is a business heavy neighborhood and between all the corporate office buildings and shops, it only makes sense that restaurants pop up to feed the many commuters who travel into this area for work. This branch of Joe’s Shanghai was certainly made for the midtown crowd. I think I’ve seen so many American Chinese restaurants that I’m no longer surprised by their stereotypical and predictable furnishings and decorations, such as the bamboo plants carefully placed around the restaurant. Although, I was surprised to find the interior light on lucky, red decorations.
Joe’s Shanghai is a typical American Chinese restaurant. It was clean, plain, and lightly decorated with ‘Chinese’ decorations (calligraphy, paintings, etc). We got there in the late morning, so it was essentially empty. However, they refused to seat us until our entire party of seven had arrived, the reasons for which we soon discovered. Moments later the restaurant was suddenly completely full. As large parties filed in, tables were joined together to accommodate families, tourists, and groups of business men and women.
I wouldn’t call myself a seasoned soup dumpling eater, as was evident by my plate which was splattered in soup. The skin has to be thick enough so that when you pick it up it with your chopsticks, it doesn’t immediately puncture or break. The ground meat was moist, fatty, and a little spongy as I often find dumpling fillings to be. I’ve had discussions and contemplated the proper technique to eating soup dumplings, but have not come to a clear conclusion. Do you bit off the top to allow the soup to cool, before proceeding to stuff the entire dumpling into your mouth? Do you bite a hole into the side, allow the soup to pool in the spoon and then drink the soup first? (Tip: allow the broth inside to cool to avoid burning your tongue.)
There were two different responses to the soup dumplings. One was exclamations of good taste and how they were “soooooo good.” The other reaction was speechlessness; smiling faces lit up and we all just enjoyed the start to a really great lunch. Our table came to the consensus that these were excellent soup dumplings.
The soup, on its own, was rich. I would drink the broth if it was handed to me in a bowl, no questions asked. I can only take a guess as to what the soup was made of: possibly chicken stock flavored with Chinese ham. I didn’t find the meat to be particularly spectacular, as I don’t think it needs to be, because the beauty of the soup dumplings lies in the combination and ratio of soup to meat to dumpling skin.
I can’t think of a better way to spend a shopping break in Midtown Manhattan than snacking on some soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai.
Cuisine: Chinese
24 W 56th Street
New York, NY 10019
Date: May 8th, 2014
