Kirin Steamed Buns Chestnut

These Kirin Steamed Buns Chestnut were big! I bought them at H Mart in the frozen section, and steamed them. The dough was especially soft and silky. The flavor was pasty but not dry, thick and creamy. The flavor was definitely chestnut, but it was a sort of mild flavor. Occasionally there was a not-fully-mashed bit of chestnut, which indicated that real chestnuts were used as a major ingredient in the filling. I liked these buns, but they weren't showstoppers. I would consider buying them again.

Score: 3.5/5 - I wish the flavor had a little more wow, but the texture of the dough and filling were great and they were an overall pleasant experience.

Samlip Kimchi Dumpling

These kimchi dumplings are from the same line as these vegetable and leek dumplings I've been loving. The kimchi flavor is very mild, and the filling is otherwise similar to that of the vegetable version of these dumplings, with a little soy protein. These are good, but I think my favorite of the lot is still the leek flavor. I will get around to buying those again soon at H Mart!

Score: 4/5 - Another respectable entry in the Samlip dumpling line. I would definitely buy these again.

Haioreum Korean Pancake with Barley

So, these Cakes are again pretty much the same as the Green Tea and Corn versions. Chewy, slightly dense donut-y cake with a thin sweet and mild filling. I only detected the barley flavor because of the power of suggestion, but it's still good!

Score: 4/5 - I can barely tell this flavor from the other equally enjoyable Haioreum pancakes, but yeah, it's good.

NanXiang Vegetable Mushroom Bun

These NanXiang Vegetable Mushroom Buns are from Kam Man. I bought these because I don't think I had seen the brand before. Kam Man's frozen goods selection kinda works that way, you find something you like and then it goes away and there's new stuff in it's place, and maybe eventually the old stuff comes back. You can never be sure in the frozen aisle. (The rest of the store is a little like that, but it's the most noticable in the freezer case!) These buns are a medium size, with a good filling to dough ratio. The filling has greens and actually noticeable pieces of mushroom, the flavor is good but plain. I had trouble keeping everything inside the bun, as these are larger chopped pieces without binder. I thought these were just OK, but Ross thought they were pretty good. I would consider buying them again, to fill that greens-tasting bun slot.

Score: 3.5/5 - Good but not amazing. Nice to have something that says "mushroom" on the package and has noticeable mushroom bites.

Haioreum Korean Cake with Green Tea

So, these Cakes with Green Tea are very much like the Corn version. A variation on the theme, as it were. The texture was identical, the same dense donut disk with a medium thickness filling with soft lumps. The filling was identical filling, sweet with a hint of cinnamon, with the bits adding a little flavor but not much. After reading the package, the filling seems to have some amount of nuts in it. The cake part was very lightly flavored with green tea, but definitely had that green tea shade. Ross and I both liked these as much as the corn version. Rydia, who was trying this form for the first time, gave it good reviews.

Score: 4/5 - Very similar to the earlier Cake with Corn, equally enjoyable.

Samlip Vegetable Dumpling

These Samlip Vegetable Dumplings are in the same "line" as the Leek Dumplings from H Mart that I graded a 4.5. These dumplings feature the usual cast of characters in the vegetable clip art on the front, but rather than a lot of vegetable, these dumplings have a lot of soy protein in tiny chunks, with some noodle and veggie bits mixed in. The skin and ratio of filling to dumpling are otherwise the same, which is to say, good! I prefer the flavor of the leek dumplings over these, but I would certainly consider buying these again! I did buy the kimchee flavor of these dumplings, and have yet to try them, but I am looking forward to them, since these other two have been great so far.

On the topic of dumplings, I think I have figured out my favorite way to cook them. Or at least the best way to cook this brand, and I think it would work to cook other similar dumplings with a medium-thin-gauge skin. I have started cooking them in a frying pan with a decent amount of oil, but on a lower heat setting. The skins get crispy, they bubble a bit, but they don't get burnt. You have time to turn them over and cook multiple sides and it's fast enough (10 minutes or so) but not hectically fast. I do like them in the steamer as well, but this low heat frying is the best way in my opinion. (This might also work well with the larger dumplings, like these Haioreum Dumplings, since the lower heat might give them a chance to cook all the way through before they burn. Usually I have to add a little water to the pan after the frying to finish cooking them, and that takes away some of the crispness from frying...)

Score: 4/5 - Very good dumplings!

Red Diamond Redux

You know, after having the Red Diamond Hong Kong Style Dim Sum Preserved Vegetable & Bamboo Shoot Bun a couple of times, I think I have to downgrade them to closer to a 3 or a 3.5 maybe. I still like them, but you can't peel off the paper on the bottom without just ripping the bottom out of the bun. And the flavor is good, but not as good as my original assessment. I still like them and probably would get them again.

Red Diamond Hong Kong Style Dim Sum Preserved Vegetable & Bamboo Shoot Bun

These buns are from Kam Man. This is my first time buying them, though I've bought other buns in the Red Diamond Hong Kong Style series. The buns are on the smaller side, not as small as the Vegetarian Buns from my last post, but smallish. The filling is preserved vegetable and bamboo shoot, and the ingredients give no hint to what kind of vegetable that is! Probably in the Chinese list of ingredients it might specify. The vegetable has a slightly smokey taste, and is green and a little slippery. I believe it's preserved mustard greens. The flavor is good, so I wish I knew exactly! The bamboo shoot bits provide a little additional texture. The filling is a little slimy, but I would say in a good way? The dough is fine, and the ratio of dough to filling is good. I would probably get these again, even though Ross wasn't as enchanted as I was!

Score: 4/5 - Good bun, smoky preserved flavor.

Steamed Vegetarian Buns (Brilliant Co.)

These buns don't have an identifiable brand in English on the front of the package, but the back shows they are made by "Brilliant Co." I picked these up when I was taking a friend who just moved to the south part of Boston to the Kam Man for her first time. I am not sure what made me choose them, and the packaging is very unclear to what these are, other than vegetarian! No veggies are listed in the ingredients, just stuff like wheat flour and sugar. It was a pleasant surprise that these have a sweet and salty fake meat filling, with square chunks of textured vegetable protein (could be soy, or seitan? unclear, gluten and soy are both on the ingredient list). I think they are vegetarian plain pork buns? Overall, the buns are on the small side with a good ratio of filling to dough, the filling is moist and chewy with a simple sweet and savory flavor, and the dough was standard with a little chewiness to the outer skin. These were a pleasant surprise, and I would buy them again if my favorite vegetarian Char Siew buns don't reappear.

Score: 4/5 - Good small fake meat bun, good texture and simple but fulfilling flavor.

Samlip Leek Dumpling

These are from H Mart, which honestly has the widest selection of vegetarian dumplings. Most of these are Korean-branded (from North America or from South Korea), while some are Chinese-branded, a few Japanese-branded. Many of the brands have multiple flavors of vegetarian dumpling. So far, these Samlip Leek Dumplings are the best! I've fried these, I've steamed these, and both ways they were great. The filling has little green pieces of chive and leek, and little soy protein chunks, the filling is chopped fine but not mushy. The flavor is that onion/leek flavor. The skins are on the thinner side, but held up well in all the cooking. They didn't fall apart when bitten and stood up to sauce dipping. These are great. I don't have any real complaints, I could nit-pick a little I guess; the flavor could be a little more exciting, but as is it's savory and anyone would go for it... These are on the buy-again list, and I bought another flavor of the same brand to try. I have high hopes!

Score: 4.5/5 - Best all around dumplings yet. On the smaller side, with a good filling, savory oniony flavor. Delicious!

NanXiang Glutinous Rice Dumpling

These were a score from a recent trip to Kam Man. I was visiting a friend who just moved down to Jamaica Plain, and suggested we check out Kam Man, as it's the closest Asian market to her new place. They're doing renovations right now on what used to be the produce section, and they've switched the direction of the aisles and the positions of the checkout lines, so I was a little confused about where to find everything! To be fair, this market has changed hands several times since I started going. It's gone from being a Super 88, to a Hong Kong Supermarket, now to a Kam Man. Honestly, the products that they carry haven't changed significantly, but it seems like each management group has wanted to re-organize! I think the current setup actually is the best, and if they just widen the aisles slightly when they get the produce section back, it will be easy to navigate! I have hopes. They've already added a new cafe section so hopefully the renovated space will just be a new take on the produce section.

Anyway, these dumplings were bought frozen from Kam Man and I just threw them in a steamer, as per the instructions. I don't think I've ever bought anything else from this brand, NanXiang, before, but they had several products from this brand for sale. These glutinous rice dumplings were an offering I hadn't seen before, so I figured I'd go for it. These are simple, just rice wrapper dumplings filled with plain glutinous rice. The thing is, I like the flavor of glutinous rice. My sister commented that these were very plain, but that didn't bother me! I would happily have them again. And if they are too plain, just dip them in different sauces!

Score: 4/5 - Very simple but good, basically glutinous rice. I would buy them again!

Haioreum Korean Pancake with Corn

I bought these at H Mart, frozen. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, and I was pleasantly surprised. I followed the instructions on the box, and pan fried these with a little oil. As I was cooking them, I thought, "Mmm... smells like donuts..." This turned out to be the general gist. These cakes were basically a chewy sweet fried dough, with a mild sweet cinnamon filling. The dough was dense but springy, and the frying made a nice crust on the outside. The filling had some bits of softened peanut and perhaps red bean, not a lot. While I don't think those bits really added anything, I don't think they took anything away. As far as the corn part goes, I guess the dough could have been slightly corn flavored? It was certainly yellow in color! I did really like these, I would definitely buy these again, and now I am interested in looking for more of these Korean pancake style items. Definitely a pleasant surprise!

Score: 4/5 - Sweet fried dough with a cinnamon filling... Great chewy texture, mild pleasing flavor. Would buy again.

Haioreum Mushroom Dumpling

Another selection from H Mart! These are Haioreum brand dumplings, which seems to be a common Korean brand. As you can see in the second picture, I steamed these dumplings. These dumplings are larger than most of the dumplings I buy, except maybe the circular ones. The skin is thicker than on some of the other dumplings I've bought, but seems in proportion to the size! The thick skin does help when steaming, since it's less likely to rip when you are pulling these out of the steamer. (Side note, I should really start buying the pre-punched steamer liner papers instead of cutting little squares for each dumpling, which is tedious. Gotta find those...) As the dumplings cool post-steaming, the skin toughens up but I actually like the bit of added chewiness. As for the filling, it's OK. It's not very mushroom-y for a mushroom dumpling. There are noodle bits, small pieces of scallion or leek, and some vegetable protein crumbles as well. The texture was OK, the dumplings weren't over-filled so it didn't try to escape too much. I wasn't that impressed with the filling flavor or texture, really. I did like the skins, so I would try these dumplings in another flavor for sure.

Again, look at how huge these things are!

Score: 3.5/5 - Awesomely huge with good dumpling wrapper, wish the flavor were more exciting.

Sonaco Vegetarian Spring Roll

It's been a while since I have been out of town for work a lot and running myself ragged in my personal life as well. But I still get to H Mart occasionally! These spring rolls were a recent pick-up, and the brand Sonaco is new to me. Overall, I would say these were pretty good spring rolls. The filling is a little pasty, but not dry. It's a got a little sweetness to it from the taro, but not enough to make these desert-y by any means. I like the texture because it's not stringy and doesn't try to escape, but has some vegetables like carrot and mushroom. The outer wrapper is good, too. It cooks up well in the toaster oven and ends up crispy but not tough or flaky. I would go with these again!

The downside was that the spring rolls were frozen pretty solid into a block. I cheated and microwaved them a bit so I could separate them, after trying and failing to butter-knife them apart. I was surprised that this didn't lead to shredding with the outer layers of the wrappers sticking together, they actually survived intact.

Score: 3.5/5 - Good filling, a blend of sweet and savory, and does well in my usual lazy toasting!

Haioreum Frozen Cooked Kimchi Flavored Vegetable Dumplings

Another trip to H Mart means another round of dim sum. There are a million different brands of the same types of dumpling, so I took a hint from blogger Lizziebeth and bought the Haioreum take on Kimchi Dumplings. These are big rolled up dumplings, and they're stuffed pretty full. I've made these in the steamer, and I've fried them up, and they work either way. The flavor is pretty good. There are actual chunks of cabbage in there, along with noodle bits. These have pretty good kim chi flavor. I served them to my friends one evening, and they were a hit with Eds, he must have had a dozen of them. He had them with plain soy sauce, but I like them with a thick sauce, like vegetarian mushroom sauce.

Score: 4/5 - Good kim chi dumplings!

Shanghai Garden Spring Rolls

Are these Shanghai Garden Spring Rolls the same as these? I don't have the package from that previous batch of spring rolls, but the descriptions seem the same on the box versus the the plastic bag. I do think they're the same, but I liked them a lot better this second time around. I again put them in the toaster oven, but I think I let them bake less so they were less dried out. I tasted the mushroom bits more. So, I guess I am upgrading my grade!

Score: 3.5/5 - I liked them better than last time. Baking them less leaves everything more tender.

Shanghai Kitchen Crispy Gourmet Mini Spring Rolls

I'm not sure exactly of the name of the product here, there's a lot of writing on the box! But, these are pretty traditional veggie spring rolls with noodle bits and cabbage. They have mushrooms, but only little pieces, which add only occasional flavor. I baked these in the toaster oven, and they attained crispiness, but I think they might have been better deep fried or something. The shells were a little too tough. At least the rolls worked well with the assorted sauces. Anyway, these did not stand out, but were alright.

Score: 2.5/5 - Simple, plain veggie spring rolls. Acceptable but not worth buying again.

Scallion Pancake

The scallion pancakes seem to be made in Revere, MA by Chinese Scallion Pie, Inc.! I bought them frozen at H Mart, and pan fried them. I can't say I was impressed, but on the other hand my guests gave them praise, so I am giving them a 3 instead of a lower mark. I prefer my scallion pancakes more chewy, while these ended up having an almost crackery crust. I could have used a little more onion in these too.

Score: 3/5 - Too crackery for my tastes

ChoripDong Leek Dumpling Ravioli Saute

The same clip art style reappears! These dumplings are a little on the smaller side. They are that gyoza shape, rather than the folded and rolled style that many of the Korean dumplings seem to have. So far, i have been steaming them and that's been working out fine, but they might have more pep if I fried them. I find these just alright. The filling has some tiny bits of veggie protein, assorted cabbage and greens, but the "leek" is not a noticeable flavor. Honestly, these are generic veggie dumplings to me.

Score: 3/5 - Generic veggie dumplings. Totally edible, but not of note in any way.