OK, I admit I have become a regular at, and a little obsessed by, Chinatown’s Vegetarian Dim Sum House and have reviewed it a few times [Here, Here].  Veggie Dim Sum serves dim sum  all day, everyday, but doesn’t serve its food from carts, instead they use a menu-based system where you order by ticking items off on a card that you hand to your waiter.  They have a wide selection of dumplings, thus my multiple reviews, and have a full menu of veganized Chinese dishes.  The crispy fried noodle dishes are excellent.

Watercress Dumpling Soup

Today I am writing about their awesome Watercress Dumpling Soup.  This soup isn’t on the menu, you have to know to ask for it, and so now you know.  I became aware of the soup because the couple at the table next to mine were eating it and we asked the waiter about it.  The soup is a mild vegetable stock with a light ginseng flavor.  The soup comes with eight dumplings and shredded cabbage.

The dumplings were packed with watercress with a little bit of mushroom mixed in and some pieces of mock pork. The watercress had a slightly bitter, peppery flavor that picked up some of the ginseng notes from the soup.    You’ll want to eat the dumplings fast because the delicate wonton wrappers get water logged if they sit in the soup too long.  Given watercress’ supposed antibiotic properties, vitamin B, C and E content and minerals, plus what I am hoping was real ginseng, this soup should be a good tonic for a cold or flu.