Prime Food mini soupy bun with pork and crab roe (20 ounces, $5.99): These dumplings aren’t as intensely juicy and soupy as many xiaolongbao - one can eat them without a spoon - but the clarity of flavor is stunning. Grade: A - Sutton Gourmet Family jumbo pork gyoza dumplings Robert Sietsema/Eater

Produced by Dongwong, a South Korea-based company, this is the spiciest frozen food I’ve encountered. The first bite gives off a vague whiff of the ocean, then the heat takes over your tongue, your body, your larger perception of space and time. The red mash of cephalopods glows menacingly red from inside the translucent wrapper. Grade A- Sietsemaĭongwon spicy octopus dumplings (26.8 ounces, $8.99): These chubby Korean dumplings, which look like baby stegosaurus torsos, channel the aggressively hot flavor profile of a spicy Seoul classic: nakji bokkeum (stir-fried octopus with chiles). As the name implies, they pack quite a wallop of heat and umami, the latter coming from XO sauce and mushrooms, making them taste like a smoldering pork meatloaf. Grade: A - Suttonģ Meals A Day mini spicy pork bun (8.45 ounces, $5.99): Made by ACC Foods in Thorofare, NJ, these small round Chinese dumplings with a spike at the top are easily prepared by boiling for five minutes. Pair with tea for your daily quarantine breakfast. The flavors are clean and simple: The bun is spongy and neutral, while the stewed meat gives off notes of intense umami and sugar. Steam rises from the bao when torn, releasing a sweet, porky aroma. The bun’s exterior flaunts an off-white sheen, while decorative folds evoke the shape of a whole star anise. Prime Food steam roasted pork buns (30 ounces, $7.99): For those who miss the sweet char siu bao sold at the city’s myriad Chinese bakeries, Brooklyn-based Prime Food puts out a seriously good home alternative. And when you sizzle them, they stink up the kitchen in the most delicious way. The pork innards taste of green onions, soy, and garlic, and are nearly identical to the ones you get in a Japanese restaurant, or perhaps a shade better. Gourmet Family jumbo pork gyoza dumplings (1 pound, $6.89): Made in the USA, these largish elongated dumplings with a wobbly ridge on top have a wrapper midway between thick and thin, and hold up well to the combined frying and steaming process. Prime Food soupy pork dumplings with crab roe and Dongwon spicy octopus dumplings Ryan Sutton/Eater A bamboo steamer, which perfumes one’s kitchen with a soothing woodsy scent, was used to test many of the specimens, though some were pan-fried or boiled. Unlike with previous columns, no winners or losers are declared, since the bulk of what Sietsema and Sutton sampled were of exceedingly high quality.

They are among the world’s top frozen foods.Īccordingly, critics Robert Sietsema and Ryan Sutton rated the East Asian dumplings and bao that they found in their local freezer cases, including Japanese gyoza, Korean mandoo, Cantonese char siu bao, and Shanghainese xiaolongbao. Few frozen pizzas are very good - even the priciest ones don’t keep pace with fresh brick oven pies - but a wide swath of supermarket dumplings approach the quality of excellent restaurant versions. Depending on how long they’ve been in the freezer, and how well they’ve been sealed, this doesn’t generally have a deleterious effect. Unless one is eating in a dim sum parlor, there’s a good chance that the dumplings and bao gobbled up in any given establishment have been frozen at some point in their existence.

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