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!