Wasabi Shumai

Long time readers of this blog know that I am a huge fan of Yakitori Sun Chan, prior posts are here and here.  They were knocked out of commission for over six months by Con Ed’s problems with the gas supply but they are back, being re-embraced by the neighborhood and rebuilding their business.  Sun Chan is just a great neighborhood izakaya, with awesome yakitori skewers, Japanese small plates, onigiri, stir fry dishes (the Buta Kimchi is killer), and dumplings, including Pork Gyoza, Vegetable Gyoza, Shrimp Shumai, Wasabi Shumai and Takoyaki.

I recently tried the steamed Wasabi Shumai which use a green dough wrapper and are filled with shrimp, water chestnuts and wasabi.  They don’t have much flavor beyond wasabi, they are basically wasabi volcanoes that will roto-root your sinuses out – in a good way.   Shumai are often soft and a little mushy but the water chestnuts in the filling gives these shumai a great crunch texture. These dumplings are a fun after-work snack that go great with an Asahi beer.