Yummy Dumplings - Cameron Park, CA

Americas - USA West San Francisco Bay Area
1

My partner’s nephew is a 13 year old boy, which I mention by way of explaining WHY I was out in Cameron Park, an eastern suburb of Sacramento, out in the very white bread chain restaurant strip mall laden Placer County. I was tasked with taking him to see Morbius, the lastest MCU-adjacent feature in a never-ending sea of blue-grey oatmeal that occasionally passes for movies these days. Quick review: Don’t bother. I like Marvel movies and I was bored. The 13 year old boy was bored.

However, before I picked him up, I had the chance to try Yummy Dumplings, a tiny little family owned place that exists out here for no fathomable reason. We’d passed the place a number of times when visiting, and the timing worked out. The 1st page of the menu is your standard sort of American-Chinese lunch special stuff. Your sweet and sour, your kung pao, etc. The 2nd page, though, is dumplings, all made in house by the same woman one can see in the pics in the google link below. Since it was just me, I went with the pork and chive, and check this out:

10 to an order, these are boiled. Also available potsticker-style

IMG_2764
IMG_27641920×1440 280 KB

The skins are sturdy enough to withstand my clumsy stabbing and JUST toothsome enough without being tough or doughy.

and check out the interior!

IMG_2765
IMG_27651920×1440 195 KB

The center holds together without being tough and chewy in the way that some dumplings can be. It’s light and airy, with prominent chives/spring onions and hints of ginger. The dipping sauce is some magic combination of soy sauce, chili crisp, sugar, and maybe vinegar and sesame oil and is simply outstanding.

I liked them so much I got some frozen on the way home. A bag of 25 was $23 (a touch pricey, but worth it) and they threw in several containers of the dipping sauce to boot. Best of all were the cooking instructions:

Boil water. Put in dumplings. When water boils again, add 1 cup cold water. Let it boil again. Do that 3 times. Third time it boils, dumplings are ready.

Haven’t tried them at home yet. Probably this weekend.

I’m sure most of this board won’t make it out this way much, but if one is on one’s way to Tahoe, there are some shockingly good eats to be had on the drive out.

Yummy Dumplings, Cameron Park, CA

Check the google link above for menu and more photos.

6 Likes
2

Just a note here to document that I finally broke out the frozen dumplings for dinner last night and followed the instructions as given. They turned out fabulous, every bit as delicious as they were in the restaurant.

I think the ‘add cold water’ routine is a way to keep them from boiling too hard and possibly rupturing. All mine came out of the pot fully in tact, just the right amount of chew in the dough and the filling perfectly cooked and juicy.

I look forward to trying their other varieties and stocking the garage freezer.

2 Likes
3

I’m pretty sure the restaurant’s authentic items exist for the benefit of Chinese gamblers on their way to the nearby casino. This is not an unusual pattern both in Northern California as well as the East Coast.

1 Like
4

That is genuinely a factor I hadn’t considered, and now that you’ve pointed it out, makes perfect sense.

FWIW- I’ve since finished the last of my freezer stock. Boiling them gently for 8 min or so does the job just as well as the ‘add cold water’ process, and giving the bottoms a fry in a skillet after boiling is DEFINITELY the right move.

I need to go back and get another couple of bags.

1 Like
5

We used to get really super Chinese food in Rocklin, CA. Right off the freeway. Met Alan Barnes there (formerly of CH). They eventually closed. We would actually buy some of their stuff when heading to Sonoma for a regular house exchange.