Soup dumplings fill the void

Dumplings may be nothing new for many restaurant customers, but soup dumplings add a fun twist on the typical dish. Called “xiao long bao” in Cantonese, the soup dumplings are typically filled with pork and gelatinous broth that liquefies when steamed.

A raw XL XLB, filled with crab, scallops, shrimp and pork

According to Datassential, chefs across the culinary spectrum on riffing on soup dumplings with inventive fillings and other takes:

• Imperial La Mian in Chicago serves soup dumplings stuffed with fillings like Gruyère cheese, truffles and duck.
• Drunken Dumpling in New York City makes super-sized soup dumplings it calls “XL XLB” filled with crab, scallops, shrimp and pork. It creates extra buzz by only offering 25 of the jumbo dumplings each day.
• Dragon Beaux in San Francisco serves a “Five Guys” soup dumpling sampler with five different varieties, each with a different wrapper and filling combination, like spinach skin with a kale filling and turmeric skin with a crab roe filling.