Corey’s Crafty Vietnamese Cuisine, Philadelphia

Posted on September 4, 2023 by rundlea

Corey’s Crafty Vietnamese Cuisine has been criminally overlooked by the Philly food press. As of 9/4/2023 it has 100% five-star reviews (on 129 reviews) on Google, but no articles have been written about the restaurant by the local papers, online news outlets or food blogs.  Corey’s serves up some of the best Vietnamese food in Philadelphia, with amazing rice dishes, Pho, Banh Mi and Bun. The Com Dac Biet is sensational – it is a broken rice dish with your choice of a Vietnamese BBQ pork chop or boneless BBQ pork, with pate and shrimp and a fried egg that is cooked with insane technique. The vegan salt and pepper crusted tofu is another standout dish and is the best substitute for salt and pepper shrimp I have come across.  They serve a house made chili oil that is blazing hot, but has layers of flavor, some of which comes from Kaffir lime, which brings bright and tangy notes. Chef Corey has a classical French cuisine background, having worked in top restaurants in Philly, and opened up his own venture in the penumbra of the pandemic.    

The Dumplings: Corey’s menu has five dumpling options, each of which is served with its own sauce.  The vegan Portobello Mushroom and Leek dumplings come with a soy balsamic vinaigrette over baby greens, and while the dumplings could stand alone flavor-wise, you will want to sop up all of the vinaigrette with the dumplings and eat the greens garnish to get every last bit of the sauce.  This dish can be ordered with steamed or pan-fried dumplings. 

I have also had the Golden Bags several times, which are deep-fried dumplings filled with shrimp and crab, wrapped in a pouch made of a wonton wrapper that has been tied shut with pandam leave strips.  These dumplings come sitting on a sweet and spicy chili sauce.  The shrimp and crab filling always tastes fresh and flavorful and the thin crispy wrapper provides a great textural contrast to the filling.  One issue with this dish is that it is a little hard to get the chili sauce onto the dumplings, a side bowl of sauce that the dumplings could be dunked into would be welcome.          

Another favorite is the Berkshire Pork and Shrimp Dumpling served with a roasted bell pepper sauce. The wonton wrapper on these dumplings is thicker, so when you order the deep-fried version, the wrappers are crispy, crunchy and bubbled like a cannoli shell.  These dumplings have a seriously unctuous, savory pork flavor, typical of Berkshire pork, that is delicious, but I am never quite sure what the shrimp bring to the recipe.  As with the other sauces, the roasted bell pepper sauce is a tasty compliment to the dumplings. 

In addition to these dumplings, Corey’s serves Crispy Curry Chicken Dumplings and Beef Dumplings.

      

Deep Fried Berkshire pork dumplings, Portobello and Leek Dumplings and Golden Bags

The Location:  Corey’s Crafty Vietnamese Cuisine is on the 1300 block of South Street in Philadelphia.  Their web-site is pretty poor, lacks photos of a lot of the dishes and generally looks like it is from the early 2000’s.  But ignore their weak web presence and go for the food.

Posted in Dipping Sauce, Pan Fried, Pork, Shrimp, Steamed, Vegan, Vegetarian, Vietnamese | Leave a comment

Soy Sauce Review

Posted on July 9, 2023 by rundlea

Shibanuma Koikuchi Pure Soy Sauce (far right), has the clearest and thinnest color of the four sauces but has a bold long-lasting taste. This sauce is crafted by a 330 year-old, soy sauce maker, that uses traditional production methods, with wooden barrels that have been in use for decades for brewing.  This sauce is recommended for sushi and sashimi, particularly white fish.  This is an unpasteurized soy sauce so the enzymes in the sauce are still alive.

Junmai (Pure Rice) Gluten-Free Shoyu (second to right), is made from sake lees (residual yeast left over from sake production), rice, rice koji, salt and water.  This rice ‘soy sauce’ is made by Taisho-ya Shoyu, an esteemed soy sauce and miso specialty maker in Shimane Prefecture.  The company spent 10 years to develop this sauce as a gluten free substitute for soy sauce. This sauce is lighter bodied, like a pinot noir of soy sauce, and is delicious.

Kanro Soy Sauce (second to left) is a medium bodied sweet soy sauce that is darker and more like a table soy sauce.  This soy sauce is brewed without salt, but instead with another soy sauce which has been previously aged for two and a half years in cedar barrels. This mixture is brewed and then aged for another two and a half years, bringing the total brew/aging time to 5 years.  Kanro Soy Sauce is brewed by Igeta Shoyu, a century-old brewery in Shimane Prefecture, which has produced this sauce since 1912. This sauce is recommended for use as a dipping sauce or as a finishing sauce, not as a cooking sauce.

Smoked Marudaizu (Whole Soybean) Soy Sauce (far left) is thick and deep black in color and has a smoky flavor that is a quick intense hit of umami and smoky aroma.  To achieve this flavor the sauce is smoked with cherry wood, rather by using an artificial smoke aroma liquid.  Takasago has been making soy sauce in the Izumo region of Japan since 1877.  This was my favorite of the four sauces and makes a great dumpling dipping sauce.

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Dim Sum Garden, Philadelphia

Posted on June 12, 2023 by rundlea

The owner of Dim Sum Garden claims to be the 5th generation descendent of the Chef who invented Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings).  This is obviously hard to verify, but online reviews are consistent in praising the soup dumplings. When we were there was a squad of cooks making fresh soup dumplings and the food flew out of the kitchen fast.  Dim Sum Garden is a narrow restaurant that goes back deep into the block, with some tables next to the open kitchen, it sells beer and is also BYOB. 

The Dumplings:  Dim Sum Garden has a deep menu of dumplings and buns and we tried the pork soup dumplings, the fried pork soup dumplings, the sticky rice shumai and the pan-fried pork dumplings. Al of the dumplings were good and I am happy to report that the online reviews are correct, the soup dumplings were excellent.  The wrappers were slightly chewy and kept the soup and filling in place, and not a single dumpling sprang a leak in the steamer we were served.  The soup was fatty and luscious and the pork filling was delicious. These were some of the best soup dumplings I have had in Philadelphia so far.

But the clear star of the show was the pan-fried pork soup dumplings, the Sheng Jian Bao. Ever since I first had these buns at Yang’s Fried Dumplings in Shanghai I have been obsessed with finding good versions of these buns in the U.S.  Dim Sum Garden has the best rendition of these buns I have found so far.  Sheng Jian Bao are a type of soup dumpling with a slightly fluffy, semi-leavened dough wrapper. The buns are prepared by first steaming them and then pan frying the bottom of the bun until they are charred brown.  The Shanghai style Sheng Jian Bao typically have thinner crispy wrappers, while versions from other regions have thicker bread-like wrappers.  Most Shen Jian Bao served in the U.S. are not Shanghai style and the soup gets absorbed into the thicker fluffy wrapper, which is always disappointing.  The version served at Dim Sum Garden have thin wrappers with lots of liquid soup inside.  Instead of just being crispy on the bottom, their Sheng Jian Bao are entirely crispy and look like puffed up ping pong balls.  This makes me think they prepare them by steaming them, pan frying them on the bottom and then quickly deep frying them.  Putting aside the mechanics of preparation, these bao were fabulous, great charred dough flavor, lots of soup and really tasty pork filling.

The Location:  Dim Sum Garden is at 1020 Race Street between 10th and 11th in Philadelphia’s Chinatown which is adjacent to the Convention Center.    

Posted in Bao, Buns, Chinese, Dim Sum, Pan Fried, Philadelphia, Pork, Sheng Jian Bao, Shumai, Soup Dumpling, Sticky Rice, Xiao Long Bao | Leave a comment

Dan Dan, Philadelphia

Posted on May 18, 2023 by rundlea

The Philadelphia area mini-chain, Dan Dan, serves up Sichuan and Taiwanese dishes.  Dan Dan spun off from Han Dynasty’s University City location in 2015, with a first location in Rittenhouse Square and then locations in Ardmore and Wayne.  Dan Dan has a 10-seat U shaped bar on the ground floor, with three tables for two in the front window and a six-seat communal table behind the bar. The balcony has 30 seats and offers a view of the bar and the street. 

The menu is heavy on dishes with chili oil.  I tried the pork belly with sweet garlic chili oil which was insanely tasty.  It is a cold dish of paper thin sliced fatty pork belly dressed with diced garlic, slivered scallions, sweetened soy sauce and chili oil.  It is on the small plate menu but it is a large portion that could easily be shared by two.  The waitress sort of tried to wave me off the dish by saying that some people don’t like the texture of the pork fat, but I thought the dish was excellent. 

Dumplings:  The menu includes several dumpling options: wontons in chili oil, dumplings in chili oil, and pot stickers (chicken or veggie).  The difference between the wontons and dumpling in chili oil, both of which are stuffed with pork, is that the dumplings are dressed with sweetened soy and chili oil (probably the same sauce as the cold pork belly) and the wontons are dressed with black vinegar and chili oil and so have a sour vinegar edge.  Because I ordered the cold pork belly first and was surprised with how large it was and couldn’t restrain myself from eating it all, I only got one dumpling order: the wontons in chili oil.  The wontons were tasty and had lots of excess dumpling wrapper to carry the sauce, but the sauce was crazy spicy.  The the dish was so burning spicy I couldn’t finish the wontons and my mouth was on fire for like an hour afterwards.  The vinegar chili oil sauce was way more intense than the sweetened soy chili oil on the cold pork belly.

The location:  Dan Dan is located near Rittenhouse Square, in Philadelphia.  It is on 16th street just south of Sansom street.          

Posted in Chinese, Philadelphia, Pork, Potsticker, Sichuan Dumplings, Wontons | Leave a comment

Pasta B Jinghua, Milan. Italy

Posted on April 28, 2023 by rundlea

Milan’s Pasta B Jinghua is the Italian outlet of Singapore’s well regarded Jing Hua Xiao Chi, which is known for its home-style Chinese cooking. Pasta B Jinghua’s first floor is dominated by an open kitchen that looks out onto the street and a dumplings making station with a hand cranked pasta machine, while the dining room is in the basement. The first time I was there the restaurant was playing an awesome playlist of roots reggae and ska: dumplings and ska is Dumpling Hunter heaven. The restaurant is 2 or 3 blocks from the Duomo and is a great alternative to the tourist Italian restaurants that populate the blocks around the Duomo. The homemade noodles with vegetables is a delicious vegan option, as is the homemade noodles with soup and vegetables. I ate at Pasta B Jinghua three times while I was in Milan and highly recommend it.

The Dumplings: Jing Hua Xiao Chi serves a wide array of dumplings but is known for its pan-fried pork dumplings, and Pasta B Jinghua seems to be replicating the original’s menu in Italy. The pan-fried dumplings have thicker wrappers than is typical for a pot-sticker or gyoza and the wrapper is closed with a single long pinched fold rather than a series of crimped folds and the ends of the dumpling are left open. They reminded me of mini English sausage rolls. The dumplings are filled with Chinese cabbage, Chinese chive, pork, shrimp and crab, although the pork flavor is most assertive. The flavor of these super juicy dumplings was sensational, one of the best pork dumplings I have tried. After my dinner at Pasta B Jinghua, I went back for lunch just to order these dumplings again.

The “Little juicy steamed meat dumplings “Syorompo” stuffed with pork” were Shanghai soup dumplings that had been overcooked to the point that the wrappers broke and could not contain the soup and meat filling. Although Pasta B Jinghua’s web site describes these soup dumplings as the stars of the menu, they were really disappointing. The vegetarian steamed dumplings are vegan and contain Chinese cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, kikurage mushrooms, carrot, fried tofu and vermicelli. This was a very good veggie dumpling with a strong cabbage flavor and savory umami from the mushrooms. The Gyoza Pie was a large, fried, flat disc shaped pie, with a flaky crust and the same filling as the pan-fried dumplings. The Gyoza pie was tasty but less juicy than the pan-fried dumplings and I preferred the dumplings.

The Location: Pasta B Jinghua is at Via Ulrico Hoepli, 3, near via Agnello, about two blocks directly north of the east end of the Duomo square. This square is one of the major tourist attractions in Milan and is surrounded by Italian restaurants catering to tourists. Pasta B Jinghua seems to attract patrons who know great Chinese food.

They have a slightly thicker crust than the average pan-fried dumpling and are folded to leave both ends open.
Their bottoms are crisp fried to perfection and the juicy filling gushes into your mouth when you bite into them.

Posted in Bao, Chinese, Chive, Crab, Gyoza, Italian, Noodles, Pan Fried, Pork, Potsticker, Shanghai, Shrimp, Soup Dumpling, Steamed, Vegan, Vegetarian, Veggie Dumplings, Xiao Long Bao | Leave a comment

Dim Sum Palace, Korea Town, NYC

Posted on April 3, 2023 by rundlea

Dim Sum Palace is a New York City mini-chain of Cantonese dim sum houses with seven locations and a planned eight location in Chinatown that will seat 200 people and stay open to 4am.  Back in 2019 I tried the Hell’s Kitchen location and this time around I tried the Korea Town location. This location is a narrow store front and mainly has tables for groups of four and doesn’t seem to be good for large parties.  As far as I can tell from the website, all of the locations serve dim sum from a menu rather than from carts pushed around the restaurant and additionally have a wide range of kitchen entrees.   The salt baked shrimp were exactly as I remember them from 2019, unfortunately still served without the head, but still delicious. 

The Dumplings:  I tried the Szechuan Spicy Wontons and Pan-Fried Tiny Buns, both of which were filled with a mix of pork and large chunks of shrimp and were both delicious.  The wonton sauce had the Szechuan spice, pepper corn and complex fermented bean funk flavor profile but was a lot thinner and soupier than Szechuan sauces I have had elsewhere.  The sauce was a really good dipping sauce for the fried buns and the salt baked shrimp.  The buns were incredibly light and fluffy and were quite sweet and the filling was juicy.  These were better than I remember from the Hells Kitchen location, which were dry.

The Location.  The Korea Town Dim Sum Palace is on 33rd street between 5th and 6th Avenues and across from Nan Xiang Xia Long Bao.  Dim Sum Palace is a calmer alternative to Nan Xiang, which has been crowded with long waits the last couple of times I have been there.

Posted in Bao, Buns, New York City, Pan Fried, Sichuan Dumplings, Wontons | Leave a comment

Lays’ Takoyaki Flavored Crisps.

Posted on March 20, 2023 by rundlea

I saw these new “spring limited edition” Takoyaki flavored potato chips from Lays’ Chinese company at my local Asian mart and had to try them.  The flavoring components were listed as MSG in the middle of the ingredients and “Takoyaki Flavor” as almost the last ingredient. I suppose “Takoyaki Flavor” could be fried pancake batter flavor, dried Bonito tuna flavor, a mild octopus flavor, a fruity, tangy Worcestershire style sauce flavor or in true Takoyaki style, all of the above.  Since Lays’ Walkers UK brand already sells a Worcester flavor chip, opening up the bag my guess was that these chips would have some variation of fruity brown sauce flavor.  I am disappointed to report these chips had a generic salty savory flavor, probably reflecting more of the MSG than the “Takoyaki Flavor”.   I think Walkers’ Worcester Sauce flavor chips, available at one of my favorite shops Brits R Us, is closer to the Takoyaki experience.

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Nom Wah, Philadelphia

Posted on March 13, 2023 by rundlea

I stopped by the Philadelphia outpost of New York’s venerable Nom Wah Tea House for a light snack and it was not a good experience. The salt and pepper shrimp I was served had a thick batter coating, were greasy and some of the shrimp were cold. It was clear that the shrimp had been cooked earlier in the day, refrigerated and then thrown in a deep fryer to reheat them (and not for long enough) before they were served. This dish is usually served with slivered scallions, slices of jalapeno and fried garlic pieces scattered on the shrimp, and menu described the dish as having onion, scallion and black pepper, but the plate I was served did not come with these extras.

The vegetarian siu mai were also a fail. The siu mai were wedged into a seamer basket that was too small for the four siu mai and then the siu mai were over cooked. Because the siu mai were wedged together, the wrappers sort of steam welded together into a single siu mai unit and were really hard to get out of the steamer. I was able to pry out some chunks of siu mai, which tasted fine, but this was no way to eat siu mai.

Posted in Dim Sum, Shrimp, Shumai | 1 Comment

Grand Palace Seafood Restaurant, Philadelphia

Posted on March 9, 2023 by rundlea

Grand Palace Restaurant is an old school dim sum palace that can seat 700 people across three dining rooms.  Dim sum is served from a fleet of roving push carts that patrol the dining rooms and when you request a dish from a cart the server stamps a paper ticket on your table.  Since I moved to Philly I have been on a mission to find great head-on, shell-on, salt and pepper baked shrimp and now my mission is complete, the salt and pepper baked shrimp at Grand Place was excellent. The egg custard tarts were divine, get these.  Grand Palace also has an extensive a la cart kitchen menu that boasts over 200 items.  Dim sum is served from 10am to 3pm daily. 

The Dumplings:  The dumplings on the carts were all fresh and tasted great.  Although still good, my least favorite were the pork and peanuts steamed dumpling.  I was hoping the peanuts would provide a nice crunch texture but the peanuts were really soft. These dumplings were tasty but didn’t have the texture I was hoping for.   The crystal shrimp dumplings were excellent, the shrimp were sweet and had the pop texture of steamed fresh shrimp and the wrappers were light and slightly chewy.  The shrimp shumai were filled with more chunks of the sweet, fresh shrimp and were really good.  If you don’t like the texture of rice flour wrappers on crystal shrimp dumplings, get these shumai instead, because Grand Palace serves great steamed shrimp. The best dish was the pan-fried chive buns, which had a fresh, slightly pungent onion taste from the filling and a salty savory taste from the bun dough.  Even though the buns made a slow, cart borne trek to our table from the kitchen, the buns still had a crisp and slightly chewy texture.  

Shrimp Shumai
Crystal Shrimp Dumplings
Pork and Peanut Dumplings
Salt and Pepper Baked Shrimp
Pan-fried chive buns

The Location:  Grand Palace is in the New World Plaza at 6th street and Washington Street in the Little Saigon section of South Philly. 

Posted in Buns, Chive, Crystal Shrimp, Dim Sum, How Gar, Pan Fried, Philadelphia, Pork, Shrimp, Shumai, Steamed | 1 Comment

Northern Cafe, University of Southern California, LA

Posted on January 22, 2023 by rundlea

Northern Cafe is an LA based mini-chain of Chinese restaurants that is expanding through Southern California.  Northern Cafes all appear to be counter service restaurants, where you order at a counter and are given a metal stand with a numbered card that you place on your table.  When your food is ready one of the staff bring your order to your table.  From what I can see checking out the different location’s web sites they all have a similar menu – an extensive list of dumplings, a selection of pancakes, around a dozen noodle dishes and around a dozen stir fry dishes.  I was at the University of Southern California for work and tried the branch that is just off the campus.  The dumplings at this location were great and I ended up eating there twice during the few days I was in town.

The Dumplings:  Northern Cafes serve a wide selection of boiled or pan-fried dumplings, a selection of steamed dumplings and have Xiao Long Bao and wontons, all of which are made in house.  The dumplings all seem to use the same wrapper, which has been described as “rustic” in some online reviews but is the thicker chewier Northern style wrapper.  This means the Xiao Long Bao are less delicate than the ones at Joe’s Shanghai or Din Tai Fung, but the pork filling is delicious, ginger scented and slightly sweet.  The USC location only had Western style soup spoons which do not work as well for eating soup dumpling as the taller sided Chinese soup spoons.  The boiled pork dumplings and the shrimp wontons with chili oil were both really flavorful, but I wish the chili oil had stronger spice kick.  

Of the four orders of dumplings I ate, the pan-fried fish dumplings were the star of the show, they were insanely good.   The white fish filling had what appeared to be scallions mixed into it and was very juicy, so each bite was like eating bouillabaisse soup.  The thicker wrappers showed their advantages for pan-frying, as they fried up crispy on the bottom but maintained their chewier texture and echoed the thick sliced grilled bread usually served with bouillabaisse. These dumplings were essentially a bouillabaisse soup dumpling.

The Location:  The USC location of Northern Cafe is at 2904 S Figueroa St between 29th and 30th just outside of the USC campus.  Most of the restaurants in this appear to be café style and cater to the student population.

Posted in Bao, Boiled, Chinese, Fish, Los Angeles, Pan Fried, Pork, Shrimp, Soup Dumpling, Xiao Long Bao | Leave a comment