How They Make Soup Dumplings
Since one of the posted comments about Beijing Noodle #9 concerns how soup dumplings are made and references the insufferable, pseudo-macho food guy Anthony “The Shoemaker” Bourdain,* we at ELV thought we’d post a couple of videos about how these bad boys are constructed:
Here is an excerpt from AB’s program, and here’s one way you can eat them.
FYI: We agree that China MaMa’s soup dumplings are thinner and finer (not to mention cheaper) that BNN9’s, but there’s no denying the overall strength of BNN9’s menu.
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* “Shoemaker” (cordonnier) being a pejorative term French chefs use to denote a kitchen hack.
Restaurant reviews, quips, picks and pans-with some seriously salivating history-from the man who eats his way through Sin City every day.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Jon, I thank you for informing me about China MaMa’s (did not know about it) I have absolutely no problem with the overall strength of the rest of the menu at BNN9. I was just saying we went their just for the soup dumplings we were craving after watching Anthony”s show. But I must say I look forward to reading your blog each day and revel when you tell the truth about wynn. I am sorry that you feel you had to call him (anthony) a name to defend another. Why try to score cheap points on someone like that? If you have been to Les Halles in NYC and have eaten his food and feel that way “fine, no problem”. But lets be honest here-you and every other foodie would love to have that contract deal with the travel channel. The show is good and lets people in to worlds they may never see in their life.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Jason is right: any foodie would love to have AB’s gig, but we have eaten at Les Halles NYC (both before and after AB became famous), and refer you to our internal footnotes for further substantiation of our opinions.
Merci beaucoup for the compliment, Jason, and for your continued patronage of our blog, and for your many worthwhile observations AND for taking the time to write, but remember: Don’t Mess With The Zohan!
February 18th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Jason,
We here at Crazy Pita wanted to thank you for your comment a few months back in regards to the chef lineup at Aria in “City Center.” Being mentioned in the same sentence with those culinary heavy hitters is an honor we probably don’t deserve. But, we’ll take it. And next time you come in please let us know who you are so we can thank you in person.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:49 am
So we made the drive to China mama for these soup dumplings last night. First, we enjoyed the beef roll (seasoned meat, cooked nicely combined with freshly chopped scallions and cilantro rolled in a hand made pancake-Very nice and some other good dishes. BUT DO NOT EVER order the spicy wontons (Little purses of unreqinzable filling soaking in straight chili oil) Nasty.. But let’s get back to the soup dumplings….. They were small, their skins were thinner and finer (not to mention cheaper) and did have more soup (a very nice flavorful broth) then BNN9’s. But the meat filling was not flavorful at all. WE NEED TO GET THE CHEFS FROM BNN9 AND CHINA MAMA TOGETHER AND THEN HAVE THEM COMBINE RECIPES TO GET A SOLID SOUP DUMPLING. So I guess I will still be on my quest for the perfect soup dumpling walking the earth like Kane in the tv show “Kung Fu”.
February 21st, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Spicy food rocks, quite honestly. I think dumplings are great spicy and do not really like them unless the heat is on!