Jenn explores soup dumplings in the SGV and Orange County | The Bucket List S2E1

Hey! We're back with a fresh season of The Bucket List! This time around, Columnist Jenn Harris has moved on from fried chicken (only for the show) and is on the hunt for the best dumplings in Southern California.
In this episode, we tackle the sensational Xiao Long Bao! Jenn goes to Hui Tou Xiang and Long Xing Ji (#1 Juicy Dumplings) in the SGV where family-run businesses have been perfecting their soup dumplings. The Jenn goes south to Paradise Dynasty in Costa Mesa, where the Singaporean chain is disrupting the Din Tai Fung "empire" with its colorful rainbow soup dumplings.
The restaurants we cover in this episode:
-- Hui Tou Xiang -- www.huitouxiang.com/
-- Long Xing Ji Juicy Dumplings -- www.longxingji.com/
--- Paradise Dynasty -- www.paradisedynastyusa.com/
For more food coverage, restaurant reviews, recipes, and the latest food news subscribe to the L.A. Times. www.latimes.com/subscribe
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[@MarkAzali]

Shoutout to all the restaurants who don't gatekeep special ingredients (e.g. peanut butter). We all know it takes way more than just knowing a recipe to serve people a quality product and stay in business.

[@CC-gq7sx]

Greatly appreciate the insider perspectives and information from this episode. Stands out from other food vlogs. Learned a lot. Enjoyed it very much!

[@latimesfood]

Thank you!! 🙏

[@v4ever]

The first place is also my favorite soup dumpling place! Nice, traditional flavors. With all the inflation & restaurant prices increasing dramatically, the prices at this restaurant are still really reasonable!

[@tulipsrose896]

can't wait for more episodes. Thanks Jenn!

[@gailgonzales2321]

Thank you for this! I went to all three today. Long Xing Ji was my favorite by ordering the sweet xiao long bao. Can’t wait for the next episode.

[@Artsiedartsie]

I'm from Singapore and I didn't know the vision of Paradise Dynasty. Glad I discovered this video!

[@marc2322]

that last guy is so honest, its refreshing

[@elencastleberry138]

Awsome. I cant wait to try these places. Looking forward to the rest of your episodes.

[@donneone]

I love dumplings in many different forms, soup dumplings the most. What a treat to have the Paradise Dynasty CEO give a personal lesson with background story. Wish Hui Tou Xiang would also package for sale to grocery stores. Then those of us who are not in the OC-SGV-LA areas could enjoy. That peanut butter ingredient is intriguing. I would like a peanut forward tasting dumpling or even a spicy peanut dipping sauce with the dumplings, because I love Malaysian-Indonesian food. It's hard to find those restaurants in So Cal. Great episode Jen! Looking forward to more.

[@wtfitzdebbie]

Have you tried Ipoh Kopitiam in SGV? I’m from Singapore and it’s probably the most authentic Malaysian food I’ve had to date!

[@donneone]

@@wtfitzdebbie Hello, thanks for the suggestion. I put it on my to-do list when I'm next in the LA area.

[@codymyers2564]

I can totally see the macaroon inspiration in the dumplings… love it

[@ShesInLosAngeles]

Well done! 👍🏼🥟

[@pepperpepperpepper]

Watching Jenn present anything is like indulging in an adult version of Teletubbies. Soo soft, loving, fun and delicious! :)

[@filosurfer]

Thanks for the video. The two spots in the Valley seem more interesting to me. Jenn has a cool vibe too.

[@cbeligan11]

I need to try Paradise Dynasty

[@dangerzone9747]

I love xiao long bao and Jenn is dope.

[@woolfel]

I know that strip mall. I've been to it countless time with my family.

[@elenaross-salonga8040]

Where can we find Jenn's dumpling SGV crawl list?

[@Nomu__]

Love that you love these sgv spots! I just posted an east side centric food vid too, they’re so underrated

[@RugbyFootballer]

You can’t just single out one dumpling house as a favorite there are so many good restaurants all over the San Gabriel Valley I would say for Asian food SGV is the place to be it’s has all kinds of Asian food I don’t mean just Chinese Food it very diverse from Japaneses, Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese, ect.

[@Nomu__]

Agree! More of these spots 🙌 I just posted an east side centric food vid too, they’re so underrated

[@SK-vu4do]

K-Flour...Funny. I did not realize LA dumpling places uses flours from Korea. Ironic that these flours were manufactured by wheat from either Australia or US to begin with. Korea does not farm enough wheat for mass consumption.

[@Changy999]

Thanks for showing love to the SGV. You can do a whole series just oj hidden gems here. I make the same "special" dipping sauce but I make two. I let it cool down by having the dumpling poach in the sauce and eat it in one bite. Let the dumpling pop in the mouth

[@sgvjc2353]

Shanghai Dumpling House In San Gabriel, CA shits on all those places! 💯

[@Nhxn_]

Lesgo

[@songsenkei]

I‘m ethnically Chinese. Tried Din Tai Fung xiaolongbao in LA. Was extremely underwhelmed. Worse than average.

[@mclovin6537]

That last guy seems like he don’t like Taiwan. He probably cringes at the mention of Taiwan. “It is china!”

[@mclovin6537]

If you poke a hole, the juice won’t squirt in your mouth 😑