At Humpty’s Dumplings in Philadelphia, dumpling fillings get an upgrade from the usual pork or vegetable. The cafe, which was started by two childhood friends, promises an avant-garde take on dumplings (as well as noodle dishes and salads), where fillings like cheesesteak and Italian hoagie are standard.
“We like to take whatever you can think of and put it inside of a dumpling,” explains head chef Joseph Ermigiotti. “Everything from cheesesteak to Buffalo chicken, cheesecake, peach cobbler, crabcake, Cuban sandwich, Italian hoagie -- anything you can think of.”
Here, dumplings are steamed and then fried, rather than one or the other, creating a texture similar to a fried wonton. The cheesesteak dumpling is the most popular option at Humpty’s -- this is Philadelphia, after all -- but customers are also obsessed with the honey chipotle chicken dumpling, which gets stuffed with smoked Gouda cheese, red and green onions, barbecue sauce, and a honey chipotle chicken filling.
Humpty’s Dumplings has two brick-and-mortar locations -- one in Keswick Village and one in Queen Village -- plus a food truck, which updates its location information on Twitter.
Check out the video above to see how these atypical dumplings take shape.
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