Return to China Blue for Veggie Dumplings

Posted on February 3, 2014 by rundlea
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Vegetable Potstickers

China Blue has a pretty wide selection of dumplings so I on my first visit I only tried the pork filled ones. I recently went back to try the vegetable potstickers and the steamed vegetable dumplings.  It turned however that these two menu items are the same dumpling, just cooked differently, so I substituted the Shanghai Shumai for the steamed veggie dumpling.

The Dumplings: China Blue makes a really good vegetable potsticker filled with a fine mince of vegetables which I think included at least spinach, carrots and mushrooms – the restaurant is a little dimly lit so it was hard to tell.  The filling had a nice savory, bright and fresh flavor that was slightly sweet from the carrots.  The wrapper was a pale green color and fried to a nice crispy crunch on the bottom.  I thought these dumplings were really successful and they didn’t seem like just an after thought on the menu for vegetarians.  China Blue could probably step it up to another level though and offer a different type of dumpling for the steamed dumpling. Continue reading →

Posted in Potsticker, Shanghai, Shumai, Vegetarian | Leave a comment

Lunar New Year

Posted on January 23, 2014 by rundlea
Photo Nov 27, 5 56 44 PM

My vegetable dumplings

The Lunar New year is Friday the 31st and traditionally New Year’s eve celebrations involve making dumplings.  Eating dumplings for the New Year is thought to bring good fortune – the shape of the dumpling is said to resemble that of ancient gold ingots, to represent prosperity.  The Washington Post just ran a story, how-to video and a photo gallery on one family’s preparations for Korean New Year celebrations.  They make 600 deep fried dumplings for 60 guests – both meat and vegetarian style.  The traditional Korean New Year meal is duk mandu guk, a soup of simmered meat-filled dumplings and glutinous rice cakes.

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Sake Bar Hagi, New York, NY

Posted on January 21, 2014 by rundlea

Sake Bar Hagi is an excellent Izakaya (Japanese Pub) housed in a basement space in mid-town Manhattan.  The place is almost always packed after about 6:30 and it doesn’t take reservations; once all the seats are taken you have to sign up on a list and wait on the stairs or out on the street until your name is called.  On any given night about half the clientele is Japanese which I think is a good sign for the bar’s bonafides .  Sake Bar Hagi does an excellent Butta Kimchi (slices of pork belly sauteed with kimchi), Ei Hire (broiled dried skate wing), grilled rice ball and grilled lamb chop sewer. They also have a strong selection of Sake and have Kirin and Sapporo on draft.

Photo Jan 13, 6 48 04 PM (HDR)

Sake Bar Hagi’s Takoyaki

Continue reading →

Posted in Gyoza, Japanese, New York City, Takoyaki | 1 Comment

Day Lee Pride, Frozen Vegetable Dumplings

Posted on January 16, 2014 by rundlea

For my frozen dumpling reviews I have decided to adopt a star rating system with dumplings rated on a zero to five scale.  Within this rubric the first frozen dumpling I profiled, Whole Foods’ vegetable dumpling, got zero stars.

Day Lee Pride, Frozen Vegetable Dumplings.  Rating:  stars_2_5

Day Lee Foods, the maker of Day Lee Pride gyoza, is subsidiary of Japan’s largest meat supplier, Nippon Meat Packers, Inc, and claims to be one of the first companies to market mass produced frozen dumplings for home consumption.  They make frozen vegetable, pork, chicken, beef and shrimp gyoza; here I review the vegetable gyoza.

Day_lee_prideI pan fried and then steamed them as directed on the back of the bag.  The vegetable filling maintained a decent crunch and wasn’t mushy, but overall I found these dumplings had a fairly bitter cabbage flavor.  The wrapper is fairly delicate and pan fries and steams up quite well.  Eggs are not listed on the ingredient list for the wrappers, so they are actually vegan. There is also no added MSG or autolyzed yeast yeast extract, which is food manufactures favorite stealth way to add MSG to processed food without listing it among the ingredients.

I give these dumplings – 2.5 stars.

Posted in Frozen Dumpling Review, Gyoza, Vegan | 1 Comment

Frozen Dumplings Review: Whole Foods Vegetable Potstickers.

Posted on January 16, 2014 by rundlea

For the New Year I am starting a new feature for Dumpling Hunter, reviews of store bought frozen dumplings.  I have had a wide range of experiences with store bought frozen dumplings, from excellent to horrifying. I’ll sort it out for you, so that you don’t need to experiment.

Whole Foods Vegetable Potstickers: Rating stars_0

whole_foodsWhole Foods makes a frozen vegetable potsticker that may be the worst dumpling I have ever tried.  My problem with them was that the filling was mushy and gloppy.  The packaging lists rolled oats as one of the filling ingredients, which I think is where the mushiness came from. Maybe when they are steamed the oats form a porridge inside the dumpling wrapper.  I managed to get through only one of these dumplings.

Whole_foods_ingredientsWhole Foods sells them in packs of eight and, while not labeled as such, there are no meat or dairy products listed among the ingredients so they appear to be vegan.  The ingredients include “Yeast Extract” which is a way to add MSG into packaged food without having to label it as such.  Yeast are high in glutamate, the G in MSG, add water and salt and you have MSG.   The packaging advises against using the microwave to cook them and recommends that you pan fry the dumplings until one side is golden brown and then add some water to the pan to steam them to finish them off.

I give these dumplings – 0 stars.

Posted in Frozen Dumpling Review, Vegan, Vegetarian | 2 Comments

China Blue, Tribeca, NY

Posted on January 13, 2014 by rundlea
Sheng Jian -

Sheng Jian – like China Cafe, it is a little dark at China Blue for my IPhone camera

China Blue is the new three-week-old venture from the owner of the Michelin starred Cafe China (I just re-read my review of China Cafe which was a little harsh, I must have been cranky when I wrote it, I have been there a bunch of times and love the food).   While Cafe China celebrates Szechuan cuisine China Blue focuses on the more subtle flavors of Shanghai.  The restaurant is located far West on Watts Street in Tribeca, practically in the Hudson, which means to walk there you need to deal with Holland Tunnel entry and exit ramps and traffic.  It is a bit of a mission to get there but it is a mission you should accept. Continue reading →

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Bamboo House, Springfield, MA

Posted on December 30, 2013 by rundlea
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“Pork Stickers” at Bamboo House

Springfield MA has a small cluster of Vietnamese restaurants, including a deli that sells awesome Banh Mi sandwiches. Pho Saigon usually wins the local “Best of…” awards in the Vietnamese Restaurant category and as a result is usually packed with yuppies. But in my opinion Pho Saigon is probably the worst of the restaurants in this neighborhood, the flavor profiles are watered down and the service is terribly slow.  My pick for more authentic Vietnamese flavors is Bamboo House, it doesn’t get noticed in the “Best of…” lists, but it is where Asian families and the local police officers come for Vietnamese food.  They do an excellent grilled pork, they have a fine meat pie, amazing vegetarian spring rolls and their shell on, salt and pepper shrimp is a stand out – they also have incredibly light but flavorful sauces on their stir fry dishes, no oily gloppy sauces here. Continue reading →

Posted in Pork, Vietnamese | 2 Comments

Tofu, Garlic Chives and Kimchee Dumplings

Posted on December 16, 2013 by rundlea

Photo Nov 27, 5 56 44 PMOver Thanksgiving we tried to whip up a new vegan dumpling recipe and came up with Tofu, Garlic Chives and Kimchee dumplings, which worked out really well.

Ingredients

  • One block firm tofu
  • One bunch garlic chives
  • Nappa cabbage Kimchee
  • 1 Table spoon sesame oil
  • Salt
  • 1 pack dumplings wrappers ~50 wrappers. Continue reading →
Posted in Recipe, Uncategorized, Vegan | Leave a comment

Where and When to Eat Xiao Long Bao in L.A.

Posted on December 10, 2013 by rundlea
The Soup Dumplings

Soup Dumplings

The L.A. Weekly blog just published an awesome flow chart on where and when to eat Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) in L.A.  The flow chart includes decision points for wrapper thickness, dinner vs lunch, whether you what dumplings with four corners (??), whether you need to return something at J. Crew, the day of the week and the time of day.

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In New Orleans, not hunting dumplings

Posted on December 9, 2013 by rundlea

I spent four days in New Orleans recently and got distracted from eating dumplings by all the other great food available to me.  Here is a run down on my experiences eating in New Orleans.

Acme

Fried Catfish and Oyster Po Boy

Acme Oyster House – Acme is definitely a tourist destination and it shows in the lackluster service, but luckily the food is still great.  Acme served the best raw oysters I had on the trip, fat, succulent and flavorful, and they also served the best Po Boy sandwich – try the fried catfish and oyster Po Boy.  The only time you can get in without waiting on line is from 2 to 4 in the afternoon or very late at night.

Mulate’s – This a big sprawling restaurant-bar-club located across from the Convention Center and has nightly live music and a dance floor.  I had a good seafood gumbo here that was spicy but lacked a depth and complexity of flavor that I tasted elsewhere.  They served a fabulous Boudan, which is a sausage made of pork and rice, it is like dirty rice in a sausage casing.  The filling had a very soft consistency, similar to blood sausage, and could almost be spread on bread like a soft pate.  I really liked Mulate’s for sitting at the bar, snacking and listening to music.

Mullata

The Boudan at Mulate’s

Continue reading →

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