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.