Soup dumpling explosions washing over Chicago
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Imperial Selection of soup dumplings at Phat Phat. Phtoto: Monica Eng/Axios
After decades of enduring a dearth of good soup dumplings in Chicago, I suddenly find the area awash in great options and the best may be yet to come.
Catch up quick: For years, I found Chicago's only consistent soup dumplings (xiao long bao) at Hing Kee in Chinatown Square, where cooks mastered the art of encasing savory broth along with pork or crab in tender but pliant wrappers that gush when you bite into them.
- Other local spots have offered fleeting tastes of good xiao long bao but none that ever approached the dumplings in Shanghai, Taiwan or Flushing NY.
Driving the news: Signs went up this month at Dearborn and Ontario announcing the Chicago arrival of the nation's best soup dumpling purveyor, Flushing's Nan Xiang.
- This River North location — expected to open in June — would mark the restaurant's ninth location and the first in the Midwest.
In the meantime, I've found three other delectable local options that include:
Lao Hu Tong (24 W. Golf Rd., Schaumburg) opened in December and has quickly become a foodie Mecca with authentic noodles and a tasty soup dumpling combo ($15.99) featuring parcels filled with crab, chicken, shrimp and classic pork, which takes the prize.
Phat Phat (17 S. Roselle Rd., Schaumburg) offers the Imperial Selection ($15) of seven xiao long bao flavors including pork, truffle, curry, orange chicken, beef stew, lemon and spicy Szechuan.
- Orange and lemon confusingly tasted like desserts but the truffle and curry made me swoon.
MiLa Soup Dumplings from Costco ($99 for 150 dumplings) deliver a shockingly juicy and delicious bao after a few minutes in your home steamer. My family devoured them.