Introduction:
As a HongKonger, I’m proud to say I’m spoiled to grow up with a lot of good and authentic Asian food available in Hong Kong. After I’ve moved to the States, I continue to seek for the taste that can match what I used to experience from Hong Kong even though it’s often difficult with a lot of disappointment, but once in a while I can find places that provide the right taste to please my palate.
Now with the pandemic, it makes it even more difficult, as restaurants are not necessarily open or I’m still conservative to allow myself to dine in. I’m sure a lot of us has adopted to the new norm, which is to order DIY food package or even cook at home from scratch.
Xiao Long Bao (小籠包) is one of the thing I love and always have craving for, and it’s also one of the thing that can turn really bad if it’s being carry-out. Since I’m not skillful enough to make my own from scratch, I don’t mind settle with frozen ones, as long as they meet certain standard. And recently a few brands just comes to my notice, and I figure I should do a review for all of them, hopefully I can help you to find the ultimate Xiao Long Bao during the pandemic.
Candidates:
- XiaoChiJia (小吃街, XCJ, https://www.thexcj.com/). I learned about this brand/restaurant recently from facebook. After further research, I found out they are based in Bellevue WA. They sell their XLB both in store and on the internet. One interesting point for them is that they make their XLB in their restaurant kitchen with all natural ingredients and no preservatives. Every online order are made within the same week.
- 3 Meal a Day(一日三餐, 3MD). This is not a typical brand that you can find from traditional Chinatown groceries, but mostly from newer Asian groceries like HMart.
- Wei Chuan(味全, WC, https://www.weichuanusa.com/en/1-71115.html). A very common brand that you can find from traditional Chinatown groceries.
- Yea Foods (好口福, YF). I never heard about this brand before, and like 3 Meal a Day, it can be found in newer Asian market.
- Trader Joe’s (TJ, https://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/steamed-pork-ginger-soup-dumplings). No need to mention, it’s a well known grocery in the US, and they often sell their own brand name food
How to test:
I’m going to rate the Xiao Long Bao (XLB) based on the following criteria, and they will be rated in a 5 points scale:
★ package quality, whether the XLB are properly preserved
★ presentation when it’s frozen
★ presentation when it’s cooked
★ thickness of skin
★ texture of the skin
★ amount of soup inside the XLB
★ taste and texture of the meat
★ price
Packaging:
XCJ: 5/5 Free form inside a resealable bag, and the package also comes with a dry ice pack to keep the XLB cold. Each bag contains 50 pieces.
3MD: 4/5 Typical Chinese dim sum package in a sealed package, and a tray with individual slot for each XLB. Each pack contains 10 pieces.
WC: 4/5 Same free form inside a resealable bag, but the execution is not as good as I found some of the XLB are stick together even in frozen form. Each pack contains 25 pieces.
YF: 4/5 Typical Chinese dim sum package in a sealed package as well, and tray with individual slot for each XLB. Each pack contains 10 pieces.
TJ: 4/5 Comes in a fancy paper card box, and a tray with 6 individual slot for each XLB
Presentation:
Even though presentation sometimes should not be affecting the taste of the food, especially before cooking, but for the sake of completeness, I’m going to cover a few of them here that worth mentioning
XCJ: 4/5 Consistently wrapped but not necessarily with size, but still good looking
3MD: 4/5 Not exactly consistent and have some cracks on the frozen XLB
WC: 4.5/5 Very consistent in both the wrap and size
YF: 3/5 Not consistently looking and some with not so good looking shape
TJ: 2/5 it has to be the ugliest frozen XLB I’ve ever seen, probably because Trader Joe’s decided to cooked them first before freezing them. What on earth are they thinking? Not to mentioned how it will affect the eating experience, which we’ll talk about in the following section
Cooked presentation — how well does each XLB hold up after being cooked?
XCJ: 5/5 The XLB keeps its shape and continue to look good
3MD: 4/5 The XLB starts to show weird shape, probably it’s because the meat within it doesn’t have a consistent shape
WC: 4/5 Very consistent
YF: 4/5 Similar to 3MD, the shape of the meat shows after it’s being cooked
TJ (steam) : 2/5 Just like any re-cooked food, it doesn’t hold any shape and it becomes very soggy and some of them are too soggy that it’s broken with the soup leaked
TJ (microwave): 2/5 Without the steam, the XLB becomes quite dry on the surface. It retain the shape, but also exposes a losing factor, the skin is actually very thick, that might be why they can hold up relatively more soup
Thickness and texture of the skin
XCJ: 5/5 Thin enough that I think it’s close to what you can get from a restaurant. It’s so strong enough to hold the shape. It’s just about right on the texture and chewiness of the skin.
3MD: 4/5 Not thick, may be just a tad thicker than XCJ. Texture is acceptable.
WC: 4/5 Not thick, but I feel it’s a bit thicker than XCJ. Texture is acceptable.
YF: 4/5 Similar to 3MD
TJ: 1/5 I just can’t tell how thick it is originally, when it cooked, the skin is close to broken and soaked. The XLB definitely doesn’t hold its shape, texture is like noodle being soaked overnight. One word, BAD!
PS. I tried to cook it with the suggested microwave method, and F me, the skin is so thick that it feels like a northern style potsticker if you know what I mean.
Soup
XCJ: 3.5/5 , the amount of juice is adequate, but it can be better
3MD: 3.5/5 adequate as well for a frozen standard
WC: 3.5/5 adequate as well for a frozen standard
YF : 3.5/5 adequate as well for a frozen standard
TJ: 1/5 yes, it might have relatively more soup comparing to the others, but it still failed because the skin is very thick, and if I steam it, the skin becomes very soggy due to it is precooked. If I want a lot of soup, I would have order a 灌湯餃 (a bowl size dumpling that is steam in soup)
Taste and Texture
XCJ: 3.9/5 I have to say it is very close to what you can get from an above average XLB place. The taste , texture of the pork and skin combination are very well balanced. Knowing they are freshly made is a plus too.
3MD: 4/5 I would say 3MD gets a fairly high score because of how they handle the pork inside the XLB. Each bite is very crisp in a sense it is not hard nor loose, and I think they mix a good portion of fat in the pork filling to produce this texture. It is also quite well seasoned.
WC: 3.8/5 WC managed to get a very well balanced taste and texture as well. It’s very well tailor to Asian’s palate, I only wish the pork filling is less hard. It just feel too stuffed.
YF: 2/5 You can forget about the YF as it tastes very plastic for some reason…
TJ: 3/5 It doesn’t taste bad, but not good either. The texture of the skin ruins the whole experience. The meat is also not authentically seasoned. If you are new to XLB, may be you won’t notice it. For those who are familiar with what XLB should feel and taste, the TJ is below the bar.
Price
XCJ: $35 plus shipping for 50 pieces. Yes it’s expensive, but they are also freshly made and then frozen in their restaurant kitchen.
3MD: $2.99 for 10 pieces. Quite affordable for what it is.
WC: $5.49 for around 25 pieces. Very affordable for the quality and amount.
YF: $2.99 for 10 pieces Fair price, but there are better option.
TJ: $2.99 for 6 pieces. It’s cheap, but still I won’t go for it.
Conclusion
If cost is not a problem, I’ll definitely buy from XCJ again, they are so balanced and well made that my family of 4 (2 adults and 2 young kids)almost finish the 50pc bag in one shot. But with the price tag together with shipping, it’s becoming a luxury when you can get something that has slightly less quality, but for a lot cheaper price. With that said, if you care about natural ingredient, no preservatives, great taste from the frozen food standard, and price is not an issue for you, then definitely go for XCJ, you can’t go wrong with that. However, for easy access and optimal price/quality ratio, I’m going to pick Wei Chuan or 3 meal a day. It is a very close match between WC and 3MD, I think I’ll need to try a few more in order to pick the absolute best price/quality ratio XLB. Until then, happy hunting for the best XLB!
