They are delicious. I got them from the manufacturer directly NOT from Costco. (Maybe that’s a difference?) Maybe you didn’t leave them steaming long enough. They are supposed to be homemade so the dough takes a little longer than Trader Joe’s 3$ dumplings :) Wait until you can see through the dough. The fat should melt into the broth. They blew my mind.
They are obviously not homemade. I had seen homemade soup dumplings and they don't have that factory press indentation Mila has. I feel like Mila's advertisement about their authenticity is also misleading. It's what Chinese people called "Tricking white people" Like it's better than Bibigo soup dumplings but based on price point it's overpriced for what they are.
A friend of mine bought it at Costco and ended up not liking it. She gave me the rest of her bag to try. Yesterday, I steamed them and thought they were just meh. Today, I tried pan-frying them… I ended up losing some of the soup, but thought pan-frying did taste better. No goopy fat with the pan-frying either.
I usually use a Chinese soup spoon to eat Xiao Lung Bao so it will catch the soup. I agree that this brand is not too appetizing due to the thick wrapper and pork fat. Personally, I do not care for fatty pork...chicken and shrimp is more to my liking.
Mila is overrated for what you get especially on price point. It's technically expensive and subpar compared in texture and flavor profile. I wish i was near an Asian market like I used to just to get better frozen Xiao Long Bao with a cheaper prices. They recently replaced our local Costco "Soup Dumplings Traditional Xiao Long Bao" with "Mila" and I'm offended about them being the same price $13.99 but Milas was like half the size of the other bag and lower quality in texture and flavor. I swear their social media presence is everywhere literally hyped up the expectations for disappointment.
