P.F. Chang’s

Posted on May 11, 2013 by rundlea
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The oddly glistening steamed vegetable dumplings

When you are a vegan, stuck shopping in a mall in the suburbs and don’t want to eat french fries for lunch, P.F. Chang’s starts to look like a non-terrible idea. It doesn’t ever rise to being a good idea but they have a vegetarian section on the menu, which has dumplings.

The Dumplings. The vegetable dumplings are available fried or steamed, although somehow the steamed dumplings still came glistening with oil. The filling had a really strong ginger flavor that overpowered the otherwise nondescript vegetable filling.

The Dipping Sauce. The dipping sauce was unmemorable, while the sambal chili paste was memorable for being over-salted.

The Location. At a mall or airport near you.

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Vegan Potato Momo Recipe (Himalayan Dumplings)

Posted on May 7, 2013 by rundlea

Momos are Himalayan dumplings found in Tibet, Nepal and Northern India. They are commonly filled with potato, chicken, yak, or beef and are flavored with ginger, coriander, cilantro and garlic. I tried making potato momos with a recipe I cobbled together from several recipes found online. These came out really well.

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Home made momos about to be steamed

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The KimcheeZ Rant

Posted on May 6, 2013 by rundlea

I saw the following post on Facebook, and while it is not directly related to dumplings, I completely agree with it.

Real Kimchee Jiggae

Real Kimchee Jiggae

“So the current foodie kimchee fad has gotten distinctly annoying. First of all, kimchee is a generic term, like cheese. Thus nappa kimchee is one type, like cheddar is one type of cheese. Second, I’ve yet to see a single kimchee recipe in the food media that isn’t a total insult to the art that my mother and aunts have mastered over a lifetime of study and generations of lore. There needs to be a new word developed for faux-kimchee bastardization equivalent to the word cheeZe.” Copied with permission

Has adding kimchee to everything become the new adding bacon makes everything better? Although Bunn’s new bacon and Kimchee bun is quite good.

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Dumpling Man, New York City

Posted on May 1, 2013 by rundlea

20130412-143839.jpgIt has been a tough month eating dumplings, this will be my third mediocre to negative review this month.

Dumpling Man is a small, low key, dumpling snack bar in New York City’s East Village. This spot has an open kitchen where you can see the dumplings being hand made and has two small counters to eat at. You place your order at the front register and when the dumplings are ready they yell out your number for you to come pick up you order. The dumplings are served in paper boats on cafeteria trays and come garnished with some curls of scallion.

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Posted in Kimchi, Pan Fried, Pork, Steamed, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Bunch reborn as Bunn

Posted on April 25, 2013 by rundlea

Bunch, the steamed bun take out kiosk located at Food Gallery 32 (on 32nd Street in New York’s Korea Town & reviewed here), has a new name, Bunn, and a slightly altered menu.  Bunch has become one of my go-to spots for a snack in midtown, they serve large, excellent, steamed buns. With the re-branding they have add Gua Bao to the menu and a bacon and kimchi steamed bun.  Gua Bao are essentially braised pork and slaw sandwiches that use steamed Chinese white bread as the bun.  While it sounds like the bread might be heavy and soggy, when done well, it actually comes out as a light, fluffy bread.  Bunn serves a spicy, braised pork that is delicious.  They have also instituted a frequent eater loyalty program, after 5 orders you get a free one.

Posted in Buns, Kimchi, New York City, Pork | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Nom Wah Tea Parlor, New York City

Posted on April 24, 2013 by rundlea

20130412-082431.jpgNom Wah opened in 1920 and claims to be the first dim sum restaurant in New York City. Originally located at 13-15 Doyers Street as a bakery and a tea parlor, Nom Wah moved to 11-13 Doyers Street in 1968. The interior looks like a diner or luncheonette with booths along the left side and back wall and a lunch counter along the right wall. It serves dim sum all day long but rather than ordering from carts pushed around the restaurant, you order by putting an X on an order card next to the items you want. When I was there the patrons were a mix of hipsters and older Chinese customers.

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Return to Am-Chi, Veggie Dumplings

Posted on April 13, 2013 by rundlea

I have previously reviewed Amherst Chinese (Am-Chi) the home of my favorite dumpling, the pea shoot and shrimp dumpling.  Unfortunately, the pea shoot dumplings are only available seasonally, and some years, depending on the crop, they are not available at all. After previously writing about the pork and leek dumpling I recently went back to review their spinach dumplings.

Spinach Dumpling

Spinach Dumpling

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Big day for Soup Dumplings in the Media

Posted on April 9, 2013 by rundlea

Its turning out to be a big day for soup dumplings in the media.  The LA Weekly blog has an article online reviewing the Top 10 Soup Dumpling spots in LA.  As expected Din Tai Fung comes in first place – I have tried to go to Din Tai Fung in LA and Seoul with no success – (review of my failed attempt).  The article also has an interesting piece on the different types of soup dumplings.

LA Weekly Article

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How to Eat Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)

Posted on April 9, 2013 by rundlea

SlashFood at Huffington Post just posted an article and video from 626 Night Market on how to eat Soup Dumplings without scalding your face.  They also posted a photo album of dumplings from restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley, CA.

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Vegetarian & Vegan Dumplings

Posted on April 6, 2013 by rundlea
Spinach Dumplings at Am Chi

Spinach Dumplings at Am Chi

It has been pointed out to me that my reviews of dumpling spots almost exclusively focus on the meat filled dumplings. When it comes to terrestrial animals I don’t eat beef or chicken, basically I am a Pork-aterian, so I usually review the pork and/or shrimp dumplings.

But I am going to make an effort to be more vegan and vegetarian friendly, including returning to some of the places I have reviewed and trying their veggie dumplings.  This week’s review of Shanghai Garden is the first in the “return for veggies series”.  At each spot I will do the best I can to find out if the dumplings are vegan or vegetarian.  I have added a “vegetarian” link on the menu bar that will pull up all the reviews and recipes that are vegetarian friendly.  I also plan to review Veggie Dim Sum in NYC’s Chinatown – home to a wide range of vegan dumplings.

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