Making pot stickers at House of Xian

House of Xian Dumplings has a great selection of house made boiled dumplings, there is a guy continuously making pot sticker dumplings at a dumpling station at the side of the dining room and another chef in the back kitchen making the dumplings for boiling.  The city of Xian is in China’s central-northwest region and is the starting point of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army statutes. Historically, Xian has had a large Muslim population which influenced the local cuisine, so lamb and beef dishes are more prominent in Xian cuisine than in Eastern cities.

The Dumplings:   Their are ten different boiled dumplings on the menu as well as pork and vegetable pot stickers, Shanghai style soup dumplings and pan fried pork buns.  Since the owners told me the lamb dumplings were traditional to Xian, I tried the boiled West Lake Lamb Dumplings which are stuffed with minced lamb, summer squash and scallions.  I was pretty stuffed from sampling a couple of other places that day so I had intended to only sample a few of these, but they were so good I ended up eating the whole order.  I definitely recommend these dumplings.

West Lake Lamb Dumplings

The Dipping Sauce:  The waiters at House of Xian Dumplings don’t bring a pre-made house sauce to your table but instead suggest you mix your own from the bottles of soy sauce, vinegar and Sambal chili that are on each table.

The Location:  House of Xian Dumplings is on the border of the old Chinatown and the Italian section of the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco.