Top 10 Chinese Dumplings & Dim Sum

The gold standard of Cantonese dim sum has a nearly translucent crystalline rice wrapper that must be thin enough to see the pink prawn filling but sturdy enough to lift with chopsticks without tearing.

Open-topped cylinders of coarsely ground pork and whole prawns with a gossamer yellow wonton skin are the most popular dim sum dish and the benchmark by which any dim sum kitchen is judged.

Pan-fried dumplings that steam-fry in a covered pan until the bottoms form a shatteringly crispy golden crust while the tops stay soft and the pork-cabbage filling steams to juicy perfection.

Both the steamed version with its snowy-white soft dough and the baked version with its glazed honey-brown top are essential dim sum, filled with sweet barbecued pork and eaten in one or two bites.

Silky steamed rice-starch sheets rolled around prawn, beef, or char siu and served with sweet soy, sesame sauce, and hoisin are simultaneously the simplest and most technically demanding dim sum.

Soft glutinous rice spheres filled with black sesame paste, peanut butter, or red bean and served in a sweet ginger broth are the essential food of the Lantern Festival and Winter Solstice.

The northern Chinese staple eaten at every New Year celebration and family gathering features a thick wheat dough wrapper filled with pork and napa cabbage, boiled until plump and served with vinegar.

Shanghai's street version of the soup dumpling is pan-fried in a flat skillet with a crunchy sesame-seeded bottom, filled with pork and broth — more democratic and arguably more delicious than XLB.

Glutinous rice packed with chicken, mushrooms, Chinese sausage, and salted egg yolk steamed inside a lotus leaf that infuses the entire parcel with a subtle floral fragrance.

The gold standard of Cantonese dim sum has a nearly translucent crystalline rice wrapper that must be thin enough to see the pink prawn filling but sturdy enough to lift with chopsticks without tearing.

Open-topped cylinders of coarsely ground pork and whole prawns with a gossamer yellow wonton skin are the most popular dim sum dish and the benchmark by which any dim sum kitchen is judged.

Pan-fried dumplings that steam-fry in a covered pan until the bottoms form a shatteringly crispy golden crust while the tops stay soft and the pork-cabbage filling steams to juicy perfection.

Both the steamed version with its snowy-white soft dough and the baked version with its glazed honey-brown top are essential dim sum, filled with sweet barbecued pork and eaten in one or two bites.

Silky steamed rice-starch sheets rolled around prawn, beef, or char siu and served with sweet soy, sesame sauce, and hoisin are simultaneously the simplest and most technically demanding dim sum.

Soft glutinous rice spheres filled with black sesame paste, peanut butter, or red bean and served in a sweet ginger broth are the essential food of the Lantern Festival and Winter Solstice.

The northern Chinese staple eaten at every New Year celebration and family gathering features a thick wheat dough wrapper filled with pork and napa cabbage, boiled until plump and served with vinegar.

Shanghai's street version of the soup dumpling is pan-fried in a flat skillet with a crunchy sesame-seeded bottom, filled with pork and broth — more democratic and arguably more delicious than XLB.

Glutinous rice packed with chicken, mushrooms, Chinese sausage, and salted egg yolk steamed inside a lotus leaf that infuses the entire parcel with a subtle floral fragrance.