Best Xiao Long Bao in East Bay
I am super excited to share a recent discovery of delicious xiao long bao in the East Bay. Din Ding Dumpling House is located in the City of Fremont. It is still a bit of a trek, but at least for me, I don’t have to cross a bridge to get there. I have made three trips to Din Ding Dumpling House in the past few months and I’ll share the highlights.
Of course the driving factor of every visit is the xiao long bao, soup dumplings. When I say soup dumplings, I literally mean soup inside the dumplings. Din Ding offers two types, one with pork and the other with pork and crab. I feel like a purist as each time I have only ordered the pork variety. Each order comes with eight dumplings on a bamboo steamer. The dumplings are dipped in ginger and vinegar before the pork and soup explodes in your mouth.
The wontons with spicy sauce are some of my favorites. I believe in quality over quantity and that is the case here. These wontons in chili oil are topped with egg, wood ear, and carrots providing for some extra textures.
I found the beef brisket noodle soup to be simple and comforting. It comes with baby bok choy which balances the bowl.
Din Ding usually offers a few different stir fried vegetable options. I have noticed that their veggies always looks fresh, bright, and glistening. I enjoyed their pea sprouts with garlic very much.
I had the qishan minced meat noodle dish. They call it a dry noodle dish, but that is completely inaccurate as it’s not dry at all. The noodles are drenched with loads of goodies such as beef, egg, potato bits, green onions, and carrots that are bound by gravy that is meant to be mixed together.
Ham fried rice is more like spam fried rice. There’s something nostalgic about this plate. It would make a great after school snack. The canned meat provides such great flavor to the dish.
The deep fried rice cake is a great choice for dessert to end a meal at Din Ding. It’s warm, crispy, chewy and filled with red bean.
