Cheap Eats in LA: Best dumplings in LA under $10

The handmade jiaozi at this San Gabriel eatery are what fills up the parking spaces at the Las Tunas shopping plaza every day. At Luscious Dumplings, they practice what they preach: Dumplings, in both their pan-fried or boiled versions, are truly luscious. The chive-flavored variety ($6.50 for ten) is the star of the menu—a mix of aromatic pork, egg, chives and chopped shrimp is paired with a zingy side of soy sauce infused with finely chopped ginger.

Pasadena’s Tibet Nepal House has been serving Himalayan cuisine for over a decade and does wonderful things with yak. The choice of protein may be unconventional but absolutely scrumptious; we wonder why it’s taken us so long to embrace this richer version of beef. Nepal House stuffs the ground meat into star-shaped packages ($9.99 for eight) and serves alongside housemade, garlic and ginger-based dipping sauce.

Wang Xing Ji is the champion for tang bao, massive soup-filled dumpling from China’s coastal Jiangsu province. Like the xiao long bao, the soup-filled dumpling is pinched with crown of folds on top, but five times larger. This SGV culinary destination offers these soup-dumplings-on-steroids ($4.95), stuffed with freshly ground crab and pork and served in a personal bamboo steamer. Slurp before eating: Stick a straw into the leathery, flour wrapper and start sipping. Just be mindful of the soup—it can burn.

Asia’s lesser-known dumpling, momo,are to Nepal what the gyoza is to Japan.Tara’s Himalayan offers pinched and folded momos from pan-fried to chicken-filled. We like the steamed variety ($5.99 for eight), which comes an all-vegetables or chicken filling that’s delightfully moist. The highlight is the tomato achaar dipping sauce, a Nepali staple of ripe tomatoes, red chilies, mustard seeds and fresh ginger.

Hui tou means "to return" in Mandarin and that’s exactly what you'll do at this family-run hole-in-the-wall. We can't get enough of the hui tou pot stickers. A unique take on the average crispy dumpling, the hui tou pot stickers are stuffed with generous helping of meat—choose pork or beef—and pan-fried on all four sides. An order ($6.95) is packed with eight pot stickers—a filling plate for breakfast, lunch or dinner.