There are certain joys of life that cannot be improved upon: canceling plans, the first sip off a frosty pint after a long day of work, and—of course—ripping open a pack of insanely good frozen dumplings and heating them up for late-night (or anytime) consumption.
Of course, we all love going out to a proper dim sum spot or an under-the-radar restaurant for xiao long bao, but we’ve been eating at home a lot these days, and we’re always looking for ways to replicate the perfect dumpling experience. If the only thing in your freezer is a frosty old bottle of Stoli, don’t worry: We’ve got you covered. Fly By Jing—an online craft food platform specializing in Sichuan flavors and ingredients, and the purveyors of some of our all-time fave chile crisp—just launched its ready-to-cook dumplings, and let me be one of the first to tell you, they slap. Hard.
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These freezable packets of joy are available in three mouth-watering flavors: pork, shrimp, and scallop; pork, shrimp, and mushroom; and pork XLB (xiao long bao) soup dumplings. They’re seriously easy to prepare (I’m a boiled dumpling man myself, but I’ve never turned my nose up at a perfectly crispy pan-seared dumpling), and you can enjoy them plain, with your favorite dipping sauce, tossed into a soup, or as the star ingredient in some at-home hot pot. And, as if you needed another reason to stuff your face with delicious dumplings, VICE readers can get 10% off orders right now until November 30 with code VICE10.
I’m partial to the pork, shrimp, and scallop, but honestly, all of the flavors are wonderful. Keeping a freezer full of these bad boys lets you have restaurant-quality dumplings on the table mere minutes after you rip open the resealable bag like the deranged, half-baked animal you are. Plus, Fly By Jing is a company you definitely want to support. It was started as a supper club by Jing Gao, a chef, entrepreneur, and renowned expert on Chinese cuisine, and is now an online pantry on a mission to bring uncensored Chinese flavors to the world. All of its kitchen essentials—including the wildly popular, mouth-numbing Sichuan Chili Crisp, which was the best-selling hot sauce on Amazon just six months after it dropped—are rooted in Sichuan tradition, made in California, and designed for eating however (and whenever) you’d like.
Now fill your cabinets with sauces and spices, stock up on frozen dumplings, and spend the cold winter months with a full belly and an elastic waistband.
The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story.
Fly by Jing
Dumplings 2-Pack (opens in a new window)
Fly by Jing
Dumplings Variety 6-Pack (opens in a new window)
Fly by Jing
Dumplings Variety Pack (opens in a new window)
Fly by Jing
Sichuan Chili Crisp (opens in a new window)
Fly by Jing
Fire Hot Pot Base (opens in a new window)
Fly by Jing
