Joe’s Ginger Soup Dumplings

I was in the mood for soup dumplings so I decided to check out Joe’s Shanghai in New York’s Chinatown.  But in what seems to be a re-occurring theme when I try to go to soup dumpling hot spots, Joe’s Shanghai had an hour’s wait for a table.  So instead I headed a few doors down the street to their sister restaurant, Joe’s Ginger.  Luckily Joe’s soup dumplings and a host of other dumplings are on the menu at Joe’s Ginger.

The Dumplings:  I tried the pork soup dumplings, the crab and pork soup dumplings and the shrimp and snow pea leaves boiled dumplings.

The soup dumplings –   The soup dumplings were fabulous.  The wrappers were delicate, but thick enough not to rupture when picked up with chopsticks, and the dumplings were loaded with soup, at least a soup spoon worth of soup per dumpling. Often crab and pork soup dumplings don’t have enough crab meat in them to have an impact, but Joe’s have a big portion of crab and there was a distinct difference in flavor and texture between the two styles of dumplings.

Shrimp and snow pea leaves boiled dumplings –  Sauteed pea vines is one of my favorite dishes and Amherst Chinese’s shrimp and pea vine dumplings are one of my all time favorites, so I was excited to try Joe’s version of these dumplings.  Unfortunately, while they were tasty, Joe’s version of these dumplings were not as good as their soup dumplings.  These small dumplings were stuffed with large chunks of shrimp but they could have used a lot more pea vines.

The Dipping Sauce:  The black vinegar soup dumpling sauce at Joe’s Ginger was relatively mild and tasted like it had been sweetened a little.   The dipping sauce that came with the boiled dumplings was a mild soy and rice vinegar sauce.

The Location:  Joe’s Ginger is on Pell Street between Mott and Bowery in Manhattan’s Chinatown.