Hotta Rice | Shark's Fin Dumpling

The “Hotta Rice” range of affordable rice meals has gone through evolution and introduced new cuisine and dishes. The changes to make the product relevant reflect the consumers who look for “new things” to keep supporting the products. Of course, it won’t be relevant if the products stay the same and that’s one reason the other dishes get discontinued, and some stay longer due to the popularity. It’s no secret that the Dimsum is popular everywhere as a quick snack or a viand for lunch/dinner it is also considered sold by street food vendors as compared to the fish balls in the past. Hotta Rice has the Pork Siomai as one of its longtime products, but of course, the consumer is looking for a variant and they brought in a companion…

The Shark’s Fin Dumpling is that companion to the Pok Siomai, and it has been 7-Eleven’s product since 2022 it has become a staple and favourite among office workers who just want an affordable rice meal that they can grab and go that doesn’t need to wait for it that long. It is only the second most sold-out Hotta Rice product behind the Pork Siomai but has been a contemporary favourite.

It is also the most affordable Hotta Rice product that continues to be a hot seller for those on the go. Even today, the Shark’s Fin Dumpling is sought after but most of the time don’t last long at any 7-Eleven chiller. You just have to wait for the delivery to claim it as most 7-Eleven stores don’t stock them in multiple quantities.

It Comes in Green

The Shark’s Fin Dumpling is packaged in a colourful tub so that you can easily see the name of the product and the image that accompanies it. Interestingly enough, it is the one that comes with its microwaveable container as compared to the Pork Siomaui until recently, the company made sure both dishes are now unformed in how they are packaged and portioned.

You can see the difference between a Pork Siomai and a Shark’s Fin Dumpling now with the colourful containers as previously the older products only come in white containers. But this time, 7-Eleven made sure all products are easy to identify when you browse their chillers as the Pork Siomai is now packaged in an orange tub container with its separate microwaveable container for the Siomai.

No Shark’s Used for this Dish

In modern times, there’s no Shark Fin where ever used as part of the raw materials to produce this dish. These days they replaced it with an imitation. With climate change using parts of endangered sea creatures as an ingredient for a dish has to change and this always gets a flack for the use of a “Shark’s Fin.”

But to make sure the product is affordable and accessible to all social classes the Shark’s Fin Dumpling does not even have “Shark” in it as you can see on the label that features the ingredients and other materials used to produce this rice meal. It’s absurd to use an actual Shark’s Fin and would raise the price of this product. But it’s good to know this is just a dumpling that was labeled with “Shark’s Fin” in it.

Overall, the Shark’s Fin Dumpling is a personal favourite and it is a great dinner for light eaters. It is a dumpling that is so good that 7-Eleven could have included another dumpling to make it five instead of four just like the Pork Siomai.

• Food Quality: 3.5 out of 5
• Affordability: B+
• Overall: It's good but it should have been five Dumplings in it instead of four.

Pork Igado | Retailed at: ₱ 55.00 Pesos [$ 1.39 AUD | $ 0.94 USD]**

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