TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Din Tai Fung Japan announced a limited-time menu consisting of soup dumplings with two new flavors — strawberry and chocolate — causing a stir on social media.
On Jan. 4, Din Tai Fung Japan posted on Instagram that the dish will be available at restaurants starting Jan. 12. Each order consisted of one strawberry and one chocolate soup dumpling and was priced at 380 Japanese yen (US$3.29). Patrons could also order the flavors separately.
The restaurant wrote that it used Japanese strawberries and French chocolate for the fillings and recommended the dish as a type of dessert.
Many online commentators were either aghast at or intrigued by the innovation. Instagram user tei_minryu responded, “Strawberry soup dumplings? Please stop messing with delicious Taiwanese food.”
“No, no, no, this type of thing is exclusive to Japan, right? It’s not in Taiwan! Please stop!” zoe125liu commented. Nonetheless, some people admitted that they were curious; user shigerupeng wrote, “Gross! Yet, I kind of want to eat it.”
In the past, however, those who ordered the dessert soup dumplings have left good reviews. Twitter user demekin090 reported that the strawberry soup dumpling is like a warm daifuku (a type of mochi with sweet fillings), while many gushed about how delicious the chocolate version was — manga artist Tamura Yoshiyasu went as far as to write, “Is the Taiwanese who thought of this a genius or what?”
気になってた【いちご小籠包】
キターーー♂️
これは………
温かい苺大福………だな
デザート的なやつだった pic.twitter.com/XaFkqmeP8c
— デメキン (@demekin090) April 27, 2021
女子閲覧注意:こんな小籠包はっ！
(デザート:チョコレート小籠包) pic.twitter.com/sjbnpVI4bA
— 橋本眞介Shinsuke Hashimoto (@ShinsukeH) January 18, 2019
