Wei-Chuan Vegetable Spring Rolls

Spring rolls are a highly variable item in the frozen dim sum section, and as with all dim sum items, packaging is not necessarily an indication of deliciousness. Stuff that has well designed packaging with full glossy photos and English labels are unimpressive as often as stuff that comes in cheap plastic sacks. I wasn't expecting to be impressed by these Wei-Chuan spring rolls, but, wow, they are great! I just threw these in the toaster oven, and they came out great. The shell is really the standout here. The wrappers are thick with a lot of flaky layers, but not dense. The layers were both chewy and crunchy. The filling was good too. The vegetables are the standard assortment, and the blend is not mushy or damp. These are as good as you get at many restaurants, even just baked. (I think deep frying would actually make them too greasy.)

Score: 5/5 - The best frozen vegetable spring rolls I've had so far on my veg dim sum quest. So even if they are expensive, I will be getting these again.

Dim Sum for Christmas?

Hi y'all, hope you are enjoying my vegetarian Dim Sum blog. I have been writing this blog on and off for the last year or so, really for my own archival purposes, but I hope my reviews have been helpful to some other vegetarian dim sum hunters. Hopefully I will be getting out a little more for restaurant reviews. I am due for some time in NYC, and I always end up with dim sum when I am there. (Is Golden Unicorn passe at this point? I will not be dissuaded from Vegetarian Dim Sum House on Pell Street, that place is just tops for me.)

Hope you are having a good holiday season with your loved ones!

King's Cook Handmade Crispy Green Onion Crepe

These King's Cook Handmade Crispy Green Onion Crepes were pretty good. They were similar to the Noodles House version, but not quite as good. They fried up nicely, but got a little tough to cut with a fork. I would put these slightly below the Noodles House ones because they weren't as flaky, but I will definitely buy them again when I go to H Mart!

Score: 4/5 - Very good scallion pancakes.

Wei-Chuan Vegetable Mushroom Bun

These Vegetable Mushroom Buns are confusingly similar to the Mushroom & Chinese Spinach Buns from the same brand. However, these are not quite as good. The filling is in a similar vein, with green vegetable and mushroom bits, but here the vegetable greens are more like scallions or chard stems. The green bits are a little on the tough side, but on the plus side, the filling isn't too soggy, which can be a problem with green bits fillings. These are OK, but the vegetable mushroom ones are better!

Score: 3/5 - Doable, but not especially exciting. Another one I enjoyed more than Ross.

Haioreum Red Bean Bun with Mellow Pumpkin

I am so torn on these buns. These are basically just red bean buns with a less lumpy filling. The pumpkin flavor is quite mellow, to the point I thought of these as just mild red bean buns. I was less impressed the first time than the second, but really, these are just mild buns. The dough is a little bit tinted, but it's basically plain dough. These are fine but not interesting.

Score: 3/5 - Fine, but not interesting.

Chef One Vegetable Egg Roll

These are another H Mart frozen aisle score. I am not sure if the brand, Chef One, is actually the same brand as previously reviewed Chef One products, the packaging looks significantly different to me. At any rate, these were OK egg rolls. The filling was pretty standard mixed vegetable filling, with lots of cabbage and carrot, with a good amount of texture to it. The shell was the disappointing part of this roll. I baked them in the oven (and this was one of the recommended cooking methods), where I watched them sort of vent steam, which I haven't seen before in a spring roll. The shell wasn't burnt, but it ended up crackly and brittle, with a sort of old fried dough taste. I'm sorry, I am just not that into it. They were well received overall, but I just wasn't into the shell.

Score: 3/5 - Not as good as others out there. The shell isn't to my taste.

Taiyaki Chocolate "Fish"

Fishes again! Chocolate fishes. Again, these fishes are the same on the outside as the red bean fish and custard fish, a thin crispy slightly sweet shell. This time the filling is chocolate flavored. The filling is sort of pudding-esque, like a chocolate custard. The custard is rich, but not particularly eggy. I like these fish buns better than the red bean fish, but I would rank them slightly below the plain custard fish. The egg custard jives a little better with the outer shell.

Score: 3.5/5 - Pretty good, but not quite as good as the custard fish! Still, I would consider them for future purchase.

ChoripDong Sweet Red Bean Bun

These red bean filled fishes were another H Mart score. I think I have perfected my technique for cooking these types of buns. I preheat them a little in the microwave, then into the toaster oven they go. These red bean ones are pretty much the same on the outside as the custard fish, but the red bean filling is firmer than the custard. The red bean filling is innocuous enough, not too sweet or anything, but I am just not that into it. It's a little too much firm filling, I feel like the red bean does better in fluffy buns or those cakes with buttery crusts, it was just too much in the thin fish waffle shell.

Score: 3/5 - I didn't love these, but they were alright. Splitting one between two people is enough. I give the custard fish an edge!

Wei-Chuan Mushroom & Chinese Spinach Bun

Wei-Chuan has turned out to be a pretty good brand on the whole. (These are from H Mart, but I think I have also bought the brand at Kam Man.) These Mushroom & Chinese Spinach Buns are pretty good. The greens are pretty spinach-y, the mushroom bits are not particularly impressive but not a problem. There's a good helping of filling in proportion to the dough. The filling isn't too damp, considering it's a frozen spinach filling, and the the pieces are chopped finely. The dough is on the lighter side, but not more notable than that.

Score: 4/5 - Good, some of the better "spinach" buns I've had. Ross isn't into them, but I am!

ChoripDong Frozen Vegetable Bun

At first, I thought these ChoripDong buns were a repeat of these Hoppang buns, because they have similar packaging. The same color scheme, and I swear the clip art of vegetables is the same! These buns were only a little different, and are thus also quite good. The filling is quite mushy, but in a good way. The flavor is very integrated, you don't really get hits of one taste or another, just a pleasant vegetable mash. The bun dough is unremarkable, but really just fine. The size is just about right. Overall, these buns are good, fulfilling, but not exciting.

Score: 4/5 - Satisfying buns with a nice soft filling. Will buy again.

ChoripDong Handmade Dumpling (Kimchi)

So, after having these a few times, I think they are OK but not amazing. They are very similar in form and texture to these previously reviewed Korean vegetable dumplings. They were bought at H Mart in Burlington, frozen of course. So far I have been steaming them, but I am sure they would pan fry nicely as well. Ross likes these as much as those previous ones, but to me, the kimchi flavor is weak. There's a little bit of other stuff in there, other basic veggies, noodle bits, soy protein, just like in the other ones, but the kimchi doesn't add as much as I would like. Honestly, I think the flavor is fine, but I was disappointed that it wasn't so strong. They are probably as good as the previously profiled dumplings, but I just can't give them as high marks...

Score: 3.5/5 - Pretty nice in texture, a good size, and cook up well, but not much kimchi flavor.

Juan's Vegetarian Dumplings

I just can't say I like these Juan's Vegetarian Dumplings. The skins are alright, and they fry up or steam up nicely, but I don't really like the flavor. The filling is primarily veggie protein, which is normally something that I like, mixed with a little bit of assorted vegetables and noodle bits. The filling is sort of nutty, but not in a good way. I hate to be crass, but it's a little barfy in flavor, and in appearance. I couldn't face eating more than a few of them in a sitting. These are a do-not-buy in the future. I've seen veggie buns by "Juan's" at the H Mart, but I am not sure if I will be willing to buy them. Oh well.

Score: 2.5/5 - I can eat these, but I will not willingly choose them again. The filling is sort of nutty-beany in a bad way... If it were just me, I'd give them a 2, but Ross gave them a 3.

Trader Joe's Thai Vegetable Gyoza

Trader Joe's is a great place to shop. I love their snacks, baked goods, produce, cheeses, wines, and frozen goodies. They don't have a huge amount of things that would be considered dim sum, but they've got a little stuff... These Thai Vegetable Gyoza are pretty good. The filling is standard veggie, but well balanced with cabbage and carrot. They have a hint of ginger in them that some folks go wild for. The dough has that sort of restaurant perfect shape and texture. Generally, these fry up nicely. The filling isn't as fresh as a restaurant version would be, but these are pretty good.

Score: 3.5/5 - I think for other people these would be a 4. I know Rydia loved them! I am not in love with the flavor (I have trouble with strong ginger flavors), but they are a good package.

Golden Fortune Seasoned Beancurd Pack

I am not sure how to categorize this Golden Fortune Seasoned Beancurd pack. It's definitely the kind of thing you just heat up and serve, not something you would use as an ingredient. I followed the directions on the package and microwaved it in its pouch, and ended up getting the "sauce" all over the microwave. It was a mess... That said, this was really really good. The tofu is the layered skin type, but it wasn't tough in texture. The plentiful thin sauce was on the sweeter side, it definitely had that great sweet and savory balance with the tofu. There was a hint of mustard in the sauce, it made me think a bit of Wellington sauce. I would definitely buy this again. And I bogarted the leftovers to take to work for lunch.

Score: 4.5/5 - A textured but soft tofu in a delicious sweet and savory sauce. I'm into it!

Kimbo Chinese Chive Pasta Cake

I generally like Kimbo as a brand, but I think these chive cakes are slightly inferior to the Foodhut ones. They're much bigger, and thus don't stick together as well. The flavor is still scallion-y, but has a hint of spinach/cabbage flavor. The dough is a little bit less gooey, I guess? A tiny bit of flakiness? It's just OK. They definitely didn't fry wonderfully, but I think I can do better. Still, I will buy the Foodhut ones instead. (And no, these do not have the same filling to dough ratio as on the package!)

Score: 3.5/5 - Not as good as the smaller, squishier Foodhut Chive Dumplings.

Foodhut Frozen Chive Dumpling

I've reviewed these "Chive Dumplings" before, and I'm giving them a small bump. I cooked them in a very good non-stick pan and the dumpling texture worked out well. I like the overall flavor and the whole thing works well when the outsides are well crisped, keeping it from falling apart.

Score: 4/5 - More delicious when fried well.

Doll Dim Sum Vegetarian Rice Roll

These Doll Dim Sum rice rolls were pretty good. I cooked them using the recommended microwave method on the package, adding a little water to the tray to enhance the steaming. The rice rolls themselves were just a little to tough and dry, even with me wetting them ahead of cooking. Not horrible, just not great. On the other hand, I really liked the filling. The various fungi mixed with a little carrot and whatnot had a good texture and weren't cooked down into mushy oblivion. The flavor is light. I would consider buying these again if better rice roll picks weren't available.

Score: 3.5/5 - I liked them enough, but not as much as the Amoy ones. The rice rolls were to dry in texture, but the filling was good.

Lam Shang Kee Frozen Sesame Pie

So, even though these Lam Shang Kee Frozen Sesame Pies are ostensibly a different brand than "Noodles House", the packaging is otherwise identical to that brand's packaging. I bought these sesame pancakes at Kam Man, where there are a variety of these frozen pancakes. Usually, I only try the scallion ones, and I am inclined to stick with that. The green onion pies are amazing, the sesame pies are just OK. They have the same crispy and flaky texture, but they are not as moist as the ones with green onions. They don't achieve the same rich, almost buttery flavor. The onions just add to the experience! The sesame seeds do give these pies a little sesame flavor, so these end up making me think of those sesame seed water crackers.

Score: 3.5/5 - Good, but just not as good as the green onion version sold by the same brand.

Samlip Red Bean Bun

These red bean buns, bought frozen at H Mart, are pretty good! They're a medium-large size, with a generous portion of smooth red bean filling. The filling is standard, but good. Sweetened, but not over the top, and firm enough not to drip when it's hot, but still quite smooth and moist. The dough, however, is the unique component. Texturally, I thought it was pretty good. The dough is a little chewy and bready, but soft. The green color is, of course, fake, but indicates the flavor, which is "artemisia" leaf. Artemisia is the genus of plants including wormwood and tarragon. Ross and I were both puzzled by the flavor, and had to look at the ingredients. His initial guess was that it was spinach, my initial thought was rye. I'm not doing a good job of indicating the flavor with our guesses, but the best general description I could give is savory herbal but pleasant. I have a feeling that it tastes like tarragon, but I don't use tarragon in my own home cooking so I can't judge. (I'm going to have to start using it now!) Anyway, the sort of hearty flavor of the bun dough balanced the sweet red bean paste, and texturally, they were a good match, with the dough remaining springy enough to rip pieces off and retain filling.

Score: 4/5 - These were fascinating. I will definitely want to have them again. Too bad they only come in a three-pack!

Eggplant Buns!

Does this count as dim sum? I had delicious eggplant buns at BackBar in Union Square. These yu hsiang eggplant buns were very mild in their spice, but pleasant. Compared to the usual yu hsiang dishes, it's lightly dressed in the sweet salty spicy sauce, but the light flavor is refreshing. A little carrot for crunch, cilantro, and, I think, a tiny bit of onion? The steam half bun things were pretty good, too. Good ratio of filling to bun. I really enjoyed these.

Score: 4.5/5 - Well, I might have to have these the next time I'm at BackBar! Something delish to counter the strong drinks.

Sura Vegetable Dumpling

These Sura Vegetable "Dumplings" are not dumplings, they're buns. I bought these at Reliable Market, frozen. When I opened the bag, I got a whiff of spicy pepper, which gave me hope. And it wasn't misplaced, they were pretty good buns! The filling is a little bit of everything. Cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, soy crumbles, carrots, onions, noodle bits. The flavor was good, and you could actually get different tastes in different bites. There's a little spiciness, with black pepper and a little hot red pepper. These are interesting for a vegetable bun!

These buns were a little pricey, but I would say worth it. The dough was on the soft side. Not a lot of filling, but it sticks in the bun, and is adequate to give the whole thing flavor. It is not overstuffed as in the illustration on the package... I will definitely buy these again.

Score: 4/5 - The added spices make these some of the best "vegetable" buns I've had. They aren't at the level of craveable where I could eat a whole meal of just these buns, but I will put one in my steamer every time until they run out and then buy more!

Yessine Cooked Vegetable Dumpling

These dumplings came frozen from Reliable Market in Union Square. This is going to be my "local" Korean market now that I am up in Medford, I think. Despite being in Union Square, they have a parking lot, which is awesome. The frozen foods section didn't have many brands I recognized from the Kam Man; I will have to do a little more comparing to see if the brands are the same as at H Mart. Anyway, I've had these dumplings both pan fried and steamed over a hot pot, and they held together well both ways. These dumplings are full size and firmly filled. The filling is a pretty standard vegetable mix; cabbage, green onion, carrot, along with a little veggie protein and noodle bits. A little seasoning by way of garlic, ginger, and MSG. I like them, which is good considering that they come in a giant bag!

Score: 4/5 - I like these. I've had veggie dumplings that were a little better in dough texture, filling texture, or flavor, but not in across the board better. I am holding out for some more unique flavors, but these I will very likely get again.

China Pearl Redux

Last month included a visit to China Pearl, with Ben, Nicole, their sons James and Zac, and Rydia and Antonio. It's a place I used to frequent in my grad student days. I don't know if dim sum is not as popular as it used to be or what, but we haven't had to wait for a table even for a pretty large party the last couple of timed I visited. I tried a few new things this time around, and have pictures of a few things I didn't catch last time! First up are these new veggie dumplings. I think I have seen these on the carts before, but didn't realize that they were vegetarian! The old veggie dumplings were simple crescent/half-circle affairs, but these ones are much more ornate in shape! The filling is not identical to the old filling, although the filling does still include nuts. I think the nuts are walnut bits. Otherwise, mostly napa-type cabbage and carrots. Despite the decorative peas on the top, no peas are in the filling!

These baked buns were on the same cart as the pork buns that look like this and spring rolls and shrimp crisp triangles and the like. The red dot in the middle distinguishes them from the pork buns of this type. The cart attendant suggested that they were pineapple, but I didn't get any pineapple out of them! They didn't seem to have any filling at all, really. Just pleasant, freshly baked lightly sweet dough with crumble topping. The bun is chewy, but not very dense, and the sweetness level is not cloying. These are pleasant buns, and I would consider them instead of other dessert options, like custard buns or custard cups.

Half-devoured plate! The exploded thing in the lower right is one of the veggie dumplings, you can see the exposed filling. It's joined by a baked bun and half a sesame ball.

The following picture is for the elusive fried dough rice roll! Rice rolls are very popular, and most of the ones on the rice roll cart are beef or shrimp. This one, with the fried dough, is only available on that cart sometimes. I you don't see it on the cart and ask about it, you get the "later" response, which can really mean all done for the day. I have a feeling this is because they don't "sit" as well as the meat filling ones. But on to the substance! These rolls are, yes, fried dough, wrapped in a rice noodle-like wrapper. They are sprinkled with what I think is cilantro? It adds a little bit of flavor, but not much. After you ask for it from the cart, the server douses it in a thinned, sweetened soy sauce. This is the standard sauce for rice rolls, the frozen fungus rice rolls I like come with a packet. This results in the presentation below. And let me just say, I love this stuff. LOVE IT! We actually got a second round when it appeared again, even though we had all just said we were completely full and done eating.

Now, this is next roll was in my last China Pearl review, but I didn't have a good picture for it. These large rolls have a tofu-skin wrapper, and are deep fried. The filling is cut into strips, with pieces of carrot, bamboo shoot, mushroom, baby corn, and a few other things. The sauce they put on them is again, soy based, but with a little vinegar along with the bit of sweetening. The tricky thing with these is that when the server snips them into pieces, they rarely get cut through all the way, so you have to be a little careful and rip the segments apart. These are one of my favorite savory dishes at China Pearl.

I should note that while everything I ate is to the best of my knowledge vegetarian, I have no guarantees, just the best knowledge of the floor staff. As noted in my previous review, some of the sauces can be suspect, though I am pretty sure that the rice roll and tofu skin roll sauces are veggie. If you have an allergy to nuts or fish and shellfish, you should probably give the whole thing a pass. For example, the tofu skin rolls are usually on the same cart as shrimp spring rolls and those crispy crab bundles, which the servers cut with the same scissors. And I doubt they have a dedicated vegetarian deep fryer. Still, I am willing to go there and risk a little food touching.

Score: 4.5/5 - A lot of good stuff here. I guess I just can't give it a 5 because I still miss some of the dishes from Vegetarian Dim Sum House in New York.

Chef One Vegetable Bun

These are another remainder from Kam Man. The Chef One buns in general have breadier, drier dough that I am not in love with. The ratio of filling to dough is also low. I think it works for their rich sesame peanut variety, but with a sort of plain vegetable filling, you want more filling! These were inoffensive, but I should really plan on not buying them in the future, they don't live up to some of the other options out there.

Score: 2.5/5 - Just OK. More bread than filling, which doesn't work that well for vegetable buns.

Korea's Hoppang Vegetable Bun

Another H Mart find, Korean steamed buns. The package does illustrate what flavor of veggie these buns are, namely a little cabbage, a little onion, a little carrot, but leaves off the vermicelli used to round out the filling. Overall, the filling had a good texture and a pleasant but not exciting flavor. The bun held up to the filling, not letting it crumble out too much. The size is just right for a vegetable bun, a little larger than a dessert bun, but not large enough to fall apart.

These held up nicely during steaming.

Score: 4/5 - A well done vegetable bun. Again, not exciting, but I will buy these again for the "vegetable bun" rotation.

Taiyaki "Fish" Custard Cake

H Mart! There's an H Mart in Burlington. It's a big popular Korean-American chain. I went because I needed some sauces and deep-fried tofu (and to explore). Of course, I wouldn't skip the dim sum section! These "fish" cakes had no English on the package except the brand name, Taiyaki, and the ingredients. I was pretty sure from the picture on the front of the package that this was just going to be a custard bun of some kind, and I was right!

The first time I tried these was when Rydia was visiting. She was super psyched for them, because she's had them fresh at her local market in New Jersey. They are made in a cooking iron like a waffle iron. The dough does taste like Chinese egg waffles, so it all makes sense.

I ended up steaming them (alongside Chef Hon veggie buns and lotus buns), even though the directions said to microwave them. Which would have been weird, I think? Seaming them, they ended up kind of soft, but the flavors were great. The custard is a standard, smooth egg custard, and the shell has a light flavor.

The next time I tried these, I microwaved them part way to soften the custard, and then put them in the toaster oven to crisp up the outsides. Ross thought they were too crispy that way, but I liked them that way! There's definitely a balancing act with the timing. Microwave them too long, they rupture, not long enough, they will still have solid custard cores. Toast them too long, and the custard will dry out and the shell will be crunchy, not long enough and they'll still be soggy.

Score: 4/5 - These are pretty darn good. I will buy them again. I will probably try the red bead flavor of these I saw at H Mart, too. (And I hope to try them fresh in New Jersey.)

Chef Hon Steamed Green Vegatable Buns

These are some of the last remaining buns from Kam Man. I know I mentioned at some point that I've moved, so the South Bay Shopping Center and its Kam Man are no longer in my backyard. I still have some goodies from there, but pretty soon it will be a distant memory... Anyway, on to the buns. The filling in these had a lot of green leaf vegetable bits, sort of like spinach bits, and generally held together well. There was a little onion flavor, according to my fellow taste tester. The bun dough was alright, on the bready side but not dry.

Score: 3.5/5 - These are pretty good for simple vegetable buns. I am still on a quest to find an amazing vegetable bun, but these are certainly good.

Wei-Chuan Sweet Potato Bun

These Wei-Chuan Sweet Potato Buns came from Kam Man, frozen. The Wei-Chuan buns generally have a good ratio of bun to filling. The sweet potato filling is just OK. The sweet potato flavor is there, but it's not very strong. It's just a little bland. At least it's not overly sweet, I guess.

Score: 3/5 - These are inoffensive and pleasant buns, but I just am not that excited about them.

Mary's with Blake

I hit Mary Chung's last month with Blake. Here he is modeling his Suan La Chow Show, which I have never had since it's meaty. Some kind of meaty dumplings in spicy broth.

Mary's does menu-based dim sum on weekend mornings, but we were here for dinner. Still, I ended up ordering one of the popular appetizers that is of course a dim sum feature. Scallion Pancake!

The scallion pancakes here are thick and chewy, not crisp and flaky, and definitely deep fried. They're served with a lightly sweetened soy chili sauce. While not quite the standard scallion pancake, these are amazing. If you go to Mary Chung's, get at least one for your table! As an added bonus, a friend asked and has been assured that these are vegan!

Wei-Chuan Sesame Paste Bun

These Sesame Paste Buns, which I bought frozen at Kam Man, have black sesame paste. The paste gets fairly soft and liquid when you heat it up, it's practically just sweetened ground sesame. The liquidity makes it a little tough to eat, as it tries to drip out as soon as you've taken a bite. For whatever reason, I find these to be grittier than the Wei-Chuan Sweet Powder Sesame Seed Buns. It's like the hulls of the black sesame seeds are crispy and gritty. Still, good flavor, good bun-to-filling ratio, good bun size.

Score: 3/5 - I like them enough, but I would buy their plain sesame counterpart over these.

Wei-Chaun Sweet Powdered Sesame Seed Bun

These were bought at the Kam Man, frozen of course. The sesame filling is sweetened and smooth. While it gets close to liquid warm, if you let it cool a little you can take a bite and put it down and not worry about it oozing all over. The ratio of filling to bun dough is just right for me, and the dough texture is soft and suitably squishy when it's steamed. I like these buns, and I hope I can get more of them!

Score: 4/5 - Pretty good sesame bun. Up there pretty high on the list for pure sesame buns. (I like the Prime Foods Sesame Peanut Butter ones' filling better, but that's not pure sesame, and this bun has a better overall filling-dough package.)

An Update on Cooking Frozen Sweet Potato Pies

So, this isn't a full on re-review, but after some experimentation, I've decided that pan-frying is the way to go with these sweet potato-stuffed pancakes. (And truly, all frozen pancakes.) Fried with a little bit of peanut oil or whatever you have on hand, these end up fully cooked and crispy, but also still fork-edge-cuttable. So, add these to your frying medley.

Cassava Net Spring Rolls

Sorry for my long absence. I've been... busy... work, family wedding, moving, it's all been keeping me from posting. But, on the plus side, I have a lot of Dim Sum to show you.

These are K Fat Inc. Pandang Purple Cassava Net Spring Roll. Bought from the Kam Man frozen. We traditionally cook these in the toaster oven to get that pleasant crispness without frying. Generally, I love net rolls, but they do tend to be quite flaky so you get threads everywhere. I think deep frying them would make the net threads stick together a little better. Still, I really enjoy the texture. The cassava filling is sweet, but not overly so. It's the kind of sweet that I tend to pair with salty sauce, usually vegetarian oyster sauce. The cassava filling is very evenly pasty. The paste remains firm at temperature, but not so firm that you can't mop up a few fallen net flakes with it. Overall, I like these rolls. I think I slightly prefer the small versions of these, which I usually intentionally cook to over-done, in which the cassava is less prominent. But, I like the cassava!

Score: 3.5/5 - A lovely simple roll with a flakey outside, sweet inside.

Kimbo Vegetable Delight Bun

So, a repeat of the Kimbo Vegetable Delight buns. They have very similar ingredients to the Kimbo Mix Vegetable Buns. I liked them slightly more. The filling had a little more texture to it. Can't say they were excellent, but were better than the last bunch. Still, I think we won't be buying more of the Kimbo vegetable buns, likely. I feel like we can do better. Perhaps I over-steamed them compared to my previous review, where we all loved them (see this review). Just not as much of a hit this time.

Score: 3/5 - These were very similar to the previous Kimbo buns, but came out slightly less mushy.

Kimbo Mix Vegetable Bun

The ingredients lists on some dim sum things include stuff I have no clue about and have to look up online. For example, these buns contain tremella, a type of funghi that is apparently parasitic on other funghi. Well, it tasted fine. Overall I was not huge on these buns. They were just kinda squishy, and a little too large for my tastes. The flavor of the assorted vegetables was pretty plain, and they were cooked enough that there wasn't much to the texture, just kinda mushy. I can't say I was sold on these.

Score: 2.5/5 - These were just OK.

Vegetable Buns

So these vegetable buns don't have an identifying brand in English. They are pretty different than the typical vegetable buns. They have a lot of pretty tough bok choi and little bits of soy protein. The bun dough even has a little more toughness, it's a little more bready than typical. The filling is on the drier side, but it stayed in the buns pretty well. In general, vegetable buns tend to have more dough than filling, and these adhered to that. I would say that I liked these but did not love them. Also, I think I would like them if they were a little smaller. On the whole, it's different enough to be interesting.

Score: 3.5/5 - Actually different than other vegetable buns, with greens and textured protein.

Guanpoh Longevity Buns... with Lotus Paste

These lotus paste buns are another frozen Kam Man special. The brand Guanpoh makes only vegetarian foods, so it's becoming a new standard at our house. These buns have a bright color wash on them, but it imparts no flavor, so this is basically just a fancy looking regular lotus bun. I will give them high marks, though. The filling is smooth, sweet, and in good proportion to the bun dough. The dough is right, pretty smooth and spongy, with a little bit of a skin.

Score: 4/5 - Nothing remarkable, but very pleasant lotus bun. Textures good all around.

Doll Dim Sum Mini Spring Roll

Another in the line of not so exciting but presentable spring rolls. Finely shredded cabbage and carrot filling, with a little bit of noodles that makes it a little pasty and less likely to all slough out. The roll is the standard wheat flour pastry roll. Slightly smaller than most of the little spring rolls, and a slightly high proportion of wrapper to filling, but that's alright. Bought at Kam Man frozen, toasted in the toaster oven.

Score: 3/5 - I ate them, I liked them enough. Nothing special but perfectly serviceable!

Little Chef Vegetable Spring Rolls

These spring rolls are another Kam Man frozen purchase. These are serious about the vegetable part. The filling is pretty much just shreds of cabbage and carrot and whole green peas! The only seasoning I can detect is pepper. The shells are standard pastry wrap, so no complaints there. The toaster oven prep we gave them yielded acceptable outside crispness. Overall, a totally decent spring roll, I just wish there was a little more flavor to them. I would rate them slightly higher than the K Fat Inc. rolls, and of course much much higher than the "grain" rolls. Looking back at that review, I am amazed I gave them a 2... I might have to revise that down. Having to finish the packages was like torture.

Score: 3.5/5 - Totally presentable spring rolls.

Sauces

Sauces are an important complement to dim sum. There are two generic sauce types we use with dim sum around our house, sweet and savory. The sweet sauce is almost always a sweet chili sauce, here it's Mae Ploy brand. I do like plain "duck sauce" too, or whatever one calls the slightly fruit based sweet sauce used with appetizers, but I like the little added spark of chili. It's not really very hot, though, usually. This particular brand is not super exciting to me, I find the chili bits a little too tough without much benefit. The savory sauce of choice is a vegetarian take on "oyster" sauce, here Vegetarian Mushroom Flavored Sauce by Coin Tree. This is a salty, thick brown sauce. Not hoisin sauce. Thinner than that, and no real flavor besides salty and umami. This particular one is actually quite good. It's a little thinner and lighter in flavor than many I've had, and actually went really well on the radish cakes. I'm not going to rate them properly, I just wanted to show you my typical sauce array!

Chen Hsiang Frozen Radish Cake

Radish cakes are one of those things that you usually only get in a restaurant, and usually in a restaurant they have shrimp bits in them and are served with "oyster" sauce. These ones I bought frozen at Kam Man. In a restaurant they would be cooked on a griddle, fried to crispiness on both sides and kinda pasty in the middle. Pan frying these on not too high heat gets the same effect. I had mine with vegetarian mushroom sauce; thick dark salty sauces are the way to go with these things. I enjoy this brand Chen Hsiang, but I have to admit that I haven't really seen another frozen version, which surprises me since they don't lose a lot in freezing.



Score: 4/5 - An overall satisfying radish cake. They're supposed to be like fried paste!

Chef One Sesame Peanut Butter Bun

Sesame seeds and dry peanut butter come together in the filling of this bun to create a great taste. The filling is a little on the dry and crumbly side, and a little sweet, but it works. The filling portion suits these relatively small buns. The bun itself is just OK; the bread is not as chewy as some of the other brands. Generally, it just acts as a medium for the filling. In other flavors of bun, that would be a problem, but with the great taste of the sesame peanut butter filling it's OK that the bread is there to just prop it up. These are one of Ross's favorites. They are definitely better than the plain sesame filling buns. I've yet to find this flavor elsewhere.



Score: 4/5 - A unique bun. Peanut butter and sesame temper each other in the filling.