XCJ’s Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) are worth the wait!

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Jan 11

My husband and I are big fans of all the Asian cuisines. Where we live, we're pretty spoiled with the local mom & pop restaurants where the food is crafted with love. But we're missing one key thing: soup dumplings!

When Xiao Chi Jie's ad popped up on my Facebook feed, I had an order placed within MINUTES!

Located in a Seattle suburb, the XCJ founders, like everyone else, were hit with closed doors in 2020. Looking for a way to keep their workers employed, the team experimented with freezing the soup dumplings for customers to prepare in their homes.

(Psst. It was a HUGE success!!)

One of the founders, Jennifer Liao, has even been featured as a Top 100 Female Founder by Inc Magazine.

"As a second-generation Chinese American who endured her peers' making fun of her "smelly" food growing up, Liao has always been motivated by introducing a wider range of Chinese foods to people in the U.S. to "break that cycle of [foods] seeming ethnic, foreign, or inaccessible," she says. So, when Covid provided the opportunity to expand XCJ's reach and build a full e-commerce business on top of the restaurant--allowing her to keep her employees--Liao did it. "

But how do they taste?

So good. Nice and brothy with the perfect chew in the dough.

We ordered the pork and chicken dumplings as well as the sauce trio. Delicious!

Price Breakdown:

50 Classic Pork Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) | $39.95
50 Savory Chicken Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) | $41.95
XCJ Crafted Sauce Trio | $19.95
Free shipping on orders over $100

XCJ states it is enough for six meals! My husband and I have only ever been able to eat six dumplings in a sitting -- leaving us with a few extra meals.

The Sauces:

Black Vinegar: I'm not a vinegar person. While I'm not dunking my dumplings, I have used it in other cooking a few times. I wish I could give a better description, but the smell is enough to cause my face to show a reaction. My husband did like it!

Ginger & Scallion Umami: This is the sauce of my dreams! It's so fresh and adds excellent brightness to the dumplings. I've also been adding it to rice with a bit of chili oil and a splash of soy sauce. If I could buy it by the gallon, I would.

Spicy Chili Crisp: A little goes a long way for me. This sauce has that heat that makes your lips burn a little bit in the best way possible. If you're a spicy person, this is for you.

My only critique is not with XCJ but with UPS.

My first package got stuck in transit for two extra days. The dumplings are packaged with 15 pounds of dry ice to keep them solid for the duration of their cross-country journeys. While I did get cold dumplings, they were starting to thaw and all stuck together. I pulled off what I could and ate them that night. (They leaked most of the broth, but still damn good.) When I returned to the freezer a week later, a butter knife couldn't even pry them apart.

I emailed the customer service team, and they had replacement dumplings in the mail for me the next day! The second shipment arrived in PERFECT condition... and my husband and I had fun playing with the leftover dry ice. :)