Din Tai Fung Dumpling Degustation

Overview

Din Tai Fung is known for their general dumpling prowess, creating cute, Chinese New Year themed animal dumplings and bringing those utterly ridiculous super-sized xiao long bao to Australia. If you didn't get a chance to sit down with a straw and slurp the XL XLB last year, you'll be happy to know they're coming back to Din Tai Fung's Emporium venue — as part of an 18-course degustation, no less.

The dinner on Monday, August 14 is the second to be announced after the first one booked out quicker than a plate of pork buns could be demolished. The 18-course menu will put twists on Din Tai Fung dishes past and present, and feature a few new wacky creations for good measure. Along with the giant soupy xiao long bao, you can expect Peking duck spring rolls, black truffle pork dumplings (which will use squid ink for a black and white yin-yang look) and three new dessert dumps: green tea, sesame mochi and chocolate banana. Also on the menu will be Hawaiian pizza dumplings, which sound like an abomination — but, hey, we'll give it a go.

The full 18 courses is surely akin to a dumpling marathon — but be sure to save room for the pièce de résistance: the giant xiao long bao. For the uninitiated, the xiao long bao is a steamed, soupy dumpling filled with a flavoursome broth and a pork and prawn filling. They usually come in mouth-sized portions but Din Tai Fung will be serving them up at seven times their usual size (hence the need for a straw).

Tickets to the degustation are a very reasonable $48, with $10 from each one going to children's mental health charity Be Centre. The first one sold out in less than two hours, so, if you're at all interested, you should nab some as soon as possible.