After years of the same gyoza, char siu bao, and soup dumplings, Trader Joe’s is going hard building out it’s dim sum dumpling offerings. Over the last several months, they’ve rolled out Vegan Soup Dumplings, Teriyaki Mushroom Bao Buns and (Vegan) Vegetable Dumplings. Now, they’ve added Trader Joe’s Shrimp Noodle Rolls. Shaped like a flat egg roll, the noodle rolls are filled with two small shrimp and a mix of vegetables.
The bag only gives you pan frying directions and I wanted to see how they came before even thinking about putting them in the air fryer. You cook them similar to gyoza: put a little oil into a pan, then brown on one side for 4-5 minutes, before flipping, adding water and finish by steaming for 4-5 minutes. The browning got a little out of hand, though I didn’t have the heat up too high, so keep an eye on them! One of them had a hole in it straight out of the bag (the one on the left), then broke open, but it held together more or less.
Of course, the question everyone’s gonna have is: what about a dipping sauce? I dabbed them with a little Lao Gan Ma chili crisp, then made a dipping sauce of soy sauce, black vinegar and a little more Lao Gan Ma. (If you don’t have black vinegar, balsamic will do in a pinch). If you don’t go for the spice, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce would also work.
For me, these are a totally respectable add to a home dim sum or appetizer lineup. While the whole shrimp in them are small, it gets points for not having chopped up shrimp filling. The veg is balanced and seasoned nicely, so you could totally eat these without a dipping sauce. Would I buy Trader Joe’s Shrimp Noodle Rolls again? Sure. But the pork and ginger xiao long bao remain my fave among TJ’s dumplings.
Check out some other We Tried’s from Trader Joe’s:
(Fresh) Spring Rolls with Tofu