One of my many favorite food scenes in Dumpling Days by Grace Lin (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2012):
"Careful when you eat these," Auntie Jin said. "They're special."
I'd had dumplings lots of times. How special could these be? But as I took a bite, I almost stopped in amazement.
"There's soup in these dumplings!" I said.
All the adults at the table laughed.
"I told you they were special!" Auntie Jin said. "They are called xiaolongbao. They have soup inside of them. They're good, aren't they?"
I took another bite. The hot soup filled my mouth, and the mixture of soup and meat and dumpling skin seemed to melt into a warm, rich flavor. They were good. Very, very good. I began to realize why Uncle Flower said Taiwan had the best dumplings in the world.
They were so good that I didn't even notice that I had soup dribbling down my chin. I quickly wiped it away.
"They say if you can eat these dumplings without making a mess, you are a 'real Chinese' person," Uncle Flower said.
I've been holding off on reading this, because I know when I finish, I will just want to eat ALL THE DUMPLINGS. But we are going out to eat on Monday at a place with awesome dumplings, so I feel safe reading it this weekend.
ReplyDeleteBut, OMG xiaolongbao. Best thing in the universe. Very hard to find in the US. I make a cheater version that's close, but it's not the same.
The book also makes me want to buy a ticket to Taiwan!
ReplyDeleteAaaand you just made me crave xiaolongbao.
ReplyDeleteI have never had any. *shame*
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