Have you ever been slurping up some steaming hot soup dumplings and thought, man, these would be so much better if they were served in a cup made of onion? Me neither, but apparently onions are the new serving dish for soup dumplings according to the internet. The idea, brought to life by food content creator @courtneylcook, is to add a fresh crunch to contrast the soft texture of the soup dumplings by serving them in the shell of an onion. But is the crunch really worth the additional effort (and likely a few tears) of cutting up an onion?
How do you make soup dumpling onion cups?
The recipe for these dumplings in a natural cup isn’t complicated. Grab some frozen dumplings (a lot of people are going with Bibingo or the Trader Joe’s brand) and cook them up. Then, before adding toppings, add a shell of onion under each dumpling in the tray. That way the onion shells catch the drips.
Toppings vary depending on what people like, but popular ones include chili crisp, soy sauce or the sauce that comes with the dumplings, hot sauce, kewpie mayo, sesame seeds, and green onions. Some people are going the extra mile by adding noodles or bathing the onion shells in ice water and vinegar, which reportedly helps ease the onion’s bite.
What are people saying about it?
The opinions on whether or not this “hack” is worth it are as mixed as a good soup broth. Quite a few reviewers raved over the combo, eyelids fluttering as they performed their taste tests. Creator @cocoeatz who upon taking the first bite immediately said “everyone has to try these” and continued with, “this is the perfect combo. I don’t think I’ll eat dumplings by themselves ever again.” Creator @thefoodiesergio was in agreement, saying, “hold on. Miss Courtney you are onto something. This shit hella good.” The onion’s crunch was the star of the show for many people.
But while some people loved the onion, others were not a fan. Creator @joeoheats’ verdict was that the hack was good but not stop-what-you’re-doing-and-make-these good. And @winstonsih reported that “the onion cup is too spicy.” His sentiment was shared by a few reviewers and many commenters who were just too averse to eating raw onion.
So, if you love soup dumplings and also happen to enjoy crunching on some raw onion, this is the hack for you. But if you can’t help but wrinkle your nose at the thought of shoving a shell of onion in your mouth, then maybe just slurp up your soup dumplings from an inedible dish.