eatchicago wrote: Particularly because you may very likely burn your mouth.
EatChicago,
Phoenix Dumpling House's soup dumplings are served, in my experience, much hotter than most. The first time I had soup dumpling at Phoenix I, as is my preferred method, placed one on a soup spoon, added a bit of chili oil, red vinegar and ginger and popped the thing into my mouth.
Wow!
Hot, Hot Hot. Delicious, but hot.
Ed's are not served at the same molten lava temperature, but do have a small problem that Phoenix soup dumplings do not have, they are harder to get from the steamer without bursting.
At Phoenix Dumpling House the soup dumplings rest on a layer of cabbage, making them easy to remove, at Ed's the are directly on the steamer and have a tendency to stick. My suggestion at Ed's is to place a spoon directly next to the soup dumpling and roll, gently, into the spoon with your chopsticks. This way the soup dumpling is less likely to break.
I have tried various methods of eating soup dumplings, including taking a small bite from the top, sucking out the liquid, and then eating the dumpling. My preferred method is to just pop the whole thing, but then again some have said I have a big mouth.
As an interesting aside, during a conversation with the somewhat grumpy, but loveable (wonder if she ever worked in a Jewish deli) manager of Phoenix Dumpling she asked, in a mostly rhetorical way, why Americans (yes I know there are many types of Americans, but she that's not what she meant) never eat the cabbage lining the steamer.
Since she posed the question I have made it a point to always eat the cabbage, which is quite tasty.
Enjoy,
Gary