We dearly love our eggs and pancakes. Brunch devotees flock to restaurants for huevos rancheros, biscuits and gravy and fried chicken with waffles and syrup. Favorite weekend menus pair scrambles, skillets and spud variations with endless lattes and mimosas.
There is another way to think about brunch. Chinese-style dim sum at Louisville’s King Dumpling provides a lighter and more relaxed tradition. Dining there on a recent Sunday afternoon, we perused a colorful menu. Instead of ordering “my” meal, the group collectively chose from among the many handmade options.
Bright green vegetable dumplings arrive first in a hot bamboo steamer. We gobbled up the enormous delights filled with finely chopped vegetables, adding house-made sriracha and soy dipping sauces.
Next up were pan-fried pork-filled potstickers that have that wonderful crunchy yet chewy texture, as well as soft steamed, chicken-filled bao buns.
Other top-notch small plates range from flaky scallion pancakes and crispy fried chicken thigh with spicy mayo, to the best calamari — whole baby squid — that any of us had tasted in ages.
As we talked, we sipped cups of green and jasmine tea or chilled glasses of fresh mango boba tea. On every visit to King Dumpling, we have been impressed by the authenticity and sincerity of the fare and the service.
King Dumpling is not one of those classic full-scale dim sum eateries with huge tables, lazy Susans and menus like Hong Guan Chinese Restaurant in Broomfield or Denver’s Star Kitchen. King Dumpling is a small, family-run spot.
The nearly year-old restaurant is tucked away in a nondescript McCaslin Road strip mall that is a pod of good independent restaurants (among them Home Cookin’ Cafe, Via Toscana, Loco Hermanos and Biryani Bliss).
Yuki Jiang, who co-owns King Dumpling and Lafayette’s Sushi Aji with her husband, “didn’t really grow up with dumplings being served,” she says. When the couple decided to open a Louisville eatery, they hired a cook who honed her dumpling-making skills in San Francisco.
“She comes in at 6:30 a.m. every day to make all the dumplings,” Jiang says, describing the laborious process of hand-crafting bao, wontons, fresh egg noodles and various dumplings from scratch. Some doughs are naturally hued green or yellow using vegetable juices.
One of the star dim sum attractions is the famous xiao long bao, or soup-filled pork dumplings.
Jiang demonstrated how to eat these steaming hot treats without burning your lips or face. She used tongs to place a dumpling on a deep soup spoon. You lift the spoon to your mouth and take a tiny bite to let the steam release. Then, sip the soup inside and nibble on the rest, with or without added sauces.
King Dumpling’s menu also includes substantial traditional entrees ranging from fried house-made egg noodles with large shrimp to beef noodle soup and beef fried rice. For dessert: warm, sweet baked bao filled with either chocolate or egg custard.
By the way, technically “dim sum” are the small plates of food you eat. “Yum cha” means going out with family and friends to share tea with dim sum.