Spring Festival Special: Sour Soup Dumpling

Sour Soup Dumpling is one of the two mainstream ways to have dumplings in Xi'an. Normally, the two main local ways to have dumplings in Xi'an are to either use sour soup or eat them with no soup at all.

The sour soup matters the most. Yet there are no special secrets for the dumpling stuffings. It could be made of chives, hotbed chives, carrots, onion with meat, and so on. Any kind of family-made dumplings can be served with sour soup.

Beef with hotbed chives is the classic combination for dumpling stuffing in Xi'an. With these two ingredients that could exert a unique aroma, the flavor of the dumpling just moves to another level.

While the delicious stuffing is usually kept inside, to attract the diners, the soup has to be really amazing.

Wang's Dumplings, located at Dapi Yuan near the Drum Tower in Xi'an, holds a special recipe for their sour soup. It takes more than 30 ingredients to make the vinegar itself. And once the vinegar is cooked, it has to be sealed for half a month before put into use.

The Sour Soup Dumpling boasts rich-flavored soup. Once it is cooked, add some coriander, white sesame seeds, shrimp skin, and chili oil, and voila, the authentic Sour Soup Dumpling with the traditional Xi'an cooking style is ready.