Yummi Dumplings: Frozen Xiaolongbao and Wontons Delivered
It was in September that we placed an order for Yummi Dumplings. My mom had already known about them through the SingMa Club, while I had just been introduced to it by my friend who posted about it on Facebook. They’re an outfit operating out of Orange County, and they distribute frozen xiaolongbao and dumplings around Southern California, either through pick-ups from central locations once or twice a month, or through home delivery if you’re in the LA area.
In San Diego, they operate pick-up points at Mira Mesa High School, Torrey Pines High School, and now they’ve started a point at Carlsbad City Hall. We picked up at Mira Mesa High School every time - it’s their first stop in San Diego, and being about equidistant to both Mira Mesa High and Torrey Pines High, we figured it would be better to pick it up earlier.
It seems like kind of a clandestine operation, but at an appointed time, two silver SUVs come into the parking lot and start distributing dumplings which you pre-order through their website. The first time we went, we arrived on the later side, and they went to search for our order in the cooler. But the next time we went, we were already there when they arrived, and it was a very efficient process. They called out people’s names, and you stepped forward to pick up the order.
The dumplings come frozen in their bags.
The most exciting offering is probably their xiaolongbao soup dumplings, and we ordered their special thin-skinned pork variety (now $34 for a bag of 50, but was $32 when we first ordered it in September). Interestingly, the thin-skin variety supposedly doesn’t have MSG, while the regular xiaolongbao does.
The first time, we steamed for the recommended 8-10 minutes, but they kind of all let out their soup, leading to this flat-tire effect.
But practice makes perfect! Eventually we steamed for 8 minutes, and on medium heat. That fully cooked the xiaolongbao, but they remained plump with their soup still inside.
We always paired with some dark Chinkiang vinegar and julienned ginger.
The xiaolongbao are exciting because they’re not only a lot less expensive than going to Din Tai Fung while being of equivalent quality, who wants to go to a restaurant during a pandemic?
However, my favorite of all of Yummi Dumpling’s offerings was the Hong Kong-style shrimp and pork wontons with extra shrimp (now $34 for a bag of 50, but it started out being $32 and then $33). Also interestingly, the “extra” variety of the HK shrimp/pork wontons doesn’t have MSG, while the regular variety does.
These are seriously massive wontons!
And they really are chock-full of shrimp. Sometimes two seemingly whole shrimp in one wonton.
Just eight or nine of these big wontons makes for a super filling, super fulfilling meal. But we always liked to accompany a bowl with some other vegetables to make it more balanced.
We’ve also tried the chive/pork and chive/pork/shrimp dumplings ($27 and $28 for bags of 50, respectively). These have the thicker skin, and usually aren’t served in soup, but in these colder months we liked to eat them this way. To be honest, I didn’t really notice the shrimp in the chive/pork/shrimp dumplings; maybe it’s there for some texture, but the shrimp doesn’t come out the way they do in the “Extra” HK pork/shrimp wontons.
Also accompanied by a vegetable side.
We also tried the wontons that they said were 薺菜豬肉, or shepherd’s purse and pork ($27 for a bag of 50). Shepherd’s purse is a super common ingredient in wontons in Shanghai, and I was excited to have it in the US.
But, Yummi Dumpling’s English translation or shepherd’s purse was “spinach,” and that maybe should have been a clue. It didn’t really have a very distinctive taste, and overall I felt like the wonton skin was too thick and doughy compared to the filling.
All except for the “spinach/pork wontons,” I’m a big fan of Yummi Dumpling’s selections, especially the “Shrimp/Pork (HK Wonton) - Extra.” Kyle, the guy who sends out the emails and is one of the people to drive down to San Diego to deliver has also been really friendly and responsive to emails. I’d definitely recommend ordering some on yummidumplings.com!
