Jing Ding Rou 京鼎樓：A Good Introduction to Soup Dumplings in Taipei
Upon anyone’s trip to Taiwan, one of the “must-have” dishes are the traditional soup dumplings, also known as 湯包 or 小籠包. While there are countless restaurants in Taipei where soup dumplings can be found, the restaurant which gets all the notoriety is of course Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 . However, as lines in Din Tai Fung are often quite long with a minimum wait of 30–40 minutes on a good day, another excellent option to check out is one of my favorite restaurants in Taipei called Jin Din Rou (“Rou” pronounced “Low”) 京鼎樓 . Located within walking distance of both Zhongshan 中山 and Shuanglian 雙連 metro stations, Jin Din Rou is an easy restaurant to get to, with the historical Linsen Park 林森公園 just 5 minutes walk.
Whenever we have had guests come and visit Taipei, Jin Din Rou has been one of the first restaurants we’ve taken them to. One of the interesting things to remember about soup dumplings is that, although everyone associates them with Taiwan cuisine due to Din Tai Fung’s high quality and global name recognition as a Taiwan brand, the little delicacies of pork and succulent juice aren’t originally from Taiwan. As with many things here, it’s hard to talk about the island without having some mention of the big brother, Mainland China, next door just across the Strait of Taiwan. There are multiple legends of how these particular type of dumplings were invented with one having them originate from a restaurant owner in Shanghai in the 1870s whose name was Huang Mingxian, and another legend associating the invention with the Qianlong Emperor while he was on a trip of Southern China during a visit to the town of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province. The Qianlong Emperor rounded out the most prosperous era of China’s last Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) with his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, and his father, the Yongzheng Emperor preceding him. By the time the dynasty had made it to the Qianlong Emperor, the ruling Manchus of China had reached the apex of their power and were starting a slow descent towards corruption, hubris, and laziness. The Qianlong Emperor was a dilettante of sorts, and he romanticised China’s Southern provinces and scenery as the stuff of legends, dreams, and fanciful paintings. Legends around food are always fascinating, and like a dog marking his territory, the Qianlong Emperor’s tail always seems to pop up as he wags his way into stories surrounding the origin of local cuisines. One such cuisine his legendary tail found its way into was the invention of this delicious Chinese culinary classic.
Qianlong and dogs aside, the fact is that in Taiwan soup dumplings are pretty damn tasty. My wife originally found this restaurant as she was reading some online Japanese recommendations. The first time we we went there, it became apparent that many other Japanese visitors were also reading the same recommendations. Not only were menus in Chinese, English, and Japanese, but the wait staff could also speak Japanese, and I think about 80% of the other clientele in the restaurant was from Japan. Each time we’ve been to the restaurant we’ve found the situation to be similar. As we enter the restaurant by the window where dumplings chefs tirelessly prepare their craft with their valuable fingers, we are always greeted in multiple languages each time.
As to which of type of dumplings to eat when visiting Jing Ding Rou, you can always try the original flavoured soup dumplings, but my two personal favorite flavours are the crab roe and pork dumplings 蟹肉小籠包 (340 TWD for 10) , and the oolong tea flavored dumplings 烏龍茶小籠包 (260 TWD for 10). Both of them are delicious, and you need to find a delicate balance of eating them when they are hot and fresh, while not burning your tongue at the same time. My own technique is to poke a hole in the skin of the dumpling with my teeth, rest it onto my spoon, and let the juice drip out a bit. To cool it off even a tiny bit more, I dip my dumpling into the vinegar sauce and so that there’s a bit of vinegar now inside the dumpling. In addition to the cooling factor, it gives the dumpling a bit of sourness, which I really like. Then I put the dumpling back onto the spoon with its juice and place a tiny bit of freshly sliced ginger (also provided) on top of the dumpling. I consume the dumpling in one go to combine the juice, the filling, the vinegar, and the ginger. This is my own personal technique, but I know it’s not the typical way to eat a soup dumpling as many suggest to slurp out the juice first. Anyway, just be careful not to burn your tongue when eating a soup dumpling.
Make sure that when you eat here (or any soup dumplings restaurant), that you finish the dumplings first. These little delicacies are always better when they are consumed hot and fresh. Afterwards, you can dive into the other dishes. Some recommendations for this restaurant that go well with dumplings are the braised pork belly 東坡肉 (330 TWD), eggplant with five spice sauce 五香茄子 (60 TWD), fried water spinach 空心菜 (160 TWD), preserved radish omelette 菜脯蛋 (220 TWD), and an interesting new discoverythe shrimp cheese rolls 蝦仁起司捲 (320 TWD). This past time we went there, we decided to add another staple dish to our menu and ordered the pork chop fried rice 排骨蛋炒飯 (200 TWD) where the restaurant serves a sliced fried pork chop over egg fried rice, something I’ve only seen done at Taiwanese restaurants and pictured below.
We’ve always been satisfied with the dishes, the complimentary oolong tea, as well as the service. While not the cheapest of options, it’s a good restaurant to bring a guest to when visiting Taipei as you search for just the right soup dumplings. After a meal here you can wander into the nearby Linsen Park for a bit of history and postprandial stroll or check out a movie at the Show Time Cinemas. Hope everyone enjoys this meal as you take a bite of history and culture. Click here for the location as you plan your next meal out!
