Pulmuone Vegetable Dumpling

These were in the giant frozen dumpling section at H Mart. The brand, Pulmuone, is one I haven't had before, but there are a lot of unfamiliar brands in there! These jumped out at me for their triangular shape. The filling is finely chopped, and includes noodle bits along with the vegetables. Pretty standard, but a good base for a variety of sauces. Ultimately, these are pretty similar to these Samlip Vegetable Dumplings in terms of flavor profile. I had mine pan-fried, and the triangle shape really facilitates frying. I would definitely buy these again, although there are many varieties to sample still!

Score: 4/5 - Good basic dumping, and perhaps easier to cook than most due to the flat shape.

Chef One Vegetable Egg Roll (Redux)

I've reviewed these Chef One Vegetable Egg Rolls before, and wasn't super impressed then. Ross saw them at H Mart and thought that we should give them a try. I wasn't sure if they were identical to the previous samples, since they were in a different package, so I fell for it. I toasted these in the toaster oven, one of the recommended cooking methods. The shell didn't cook fully after the suggested period of time, so I put them in for another 10 minutes. Still not great. The shell is brittle and tastes doughy, and the cabbage heavy-filling is just too plain to be good. There's tons of it in there, your mouth is just filled with bland cabbage shreds. Even slathering these with chili sauce was not enough to make me want to eat them. I will not fall for these again.

Score: 2/5 - I liked these even less than last time...

Chinatown RotiPrata Onion

These Chinatown RotiPrata in Onion flavor were good! They were next to the scallion pancakes in the freezer at H Mart, although I'm not sure we can properly count them as dim sum. I made them to go with a curry. I had the idea to put them on my pizza stone in the oven, and I was pretty impressed at how fluffy and flaky they came out. I think they would have been slightly soggier if pan fried. They did stick to the stone some, I think this could be avoided with just a touch of flour. In terms of taste, these came out sort of halfway between paratha and a scallion pancake. They had a little bit of onion flavor, and a little bit of butter flavor. They did work for their intended purpose as bread with the curry. I would definitely buy them again.

Score: 4/5 - Flaky and crispy, these could use a little more onion flavor but were very very pleasant.

Chef Hon Steamed Green Vegatable Buns

These Chef Hon buns are misspelled on the package, but they are green vegetable buns. The actual filling is bok choy with egg bits and noodle bits. I would call it OK overall, but I prefer that type of filling in a dumpling. With a bun, I'd rather have something a little more flavorful, less filler. These came frozen from H Mart, and I steamed them and that worked just fine. The filling to dough ratio is good, and the dough is fluffy. However, with all the other choices out there, they don't make a mark. I might buy them again.

Score: 3/5 - Eh, these are fine, but in the crowded field of greens buns I prefer these ones with a little Shiitake.

Choripdong Frozen Dumplings

These Choripdong frozen dumplings are generically named, but not generically flavored. The filling is a little bit of green stuff, very small noodle bits, and finely minced mushroom, and has a distinctly mushroomy but not too strong flavor. They are a sort of odd shape, like a flattened gyoza shape. They're sort of floppy when cooked. The dumpling skin is on the thicker side, and the dumplings are not stuffed full, but that's reasonable considering the good flavor of the filling. These were good steamed, but I think they would also be great lightly fried!

Score: 4.5/5 - These were good. The mushroom flavor of the filling stands out and the wrapper is chewy. Maybe my we favorite dumplings from H Mart.

Gong De Lin Steamed Bun with Shiitake Mushrooms

These Gong De Lin mushroom buns are pretty good! They are on the large side, with fluffy dough. The filling proportion is reasonable, and the filling does escape a bit but it's not bad considering that the filling is chopped veggies. The title is a little misleading, as the dominant part of the filling is greens, spinach-y cabbage-y greens, with a little bit of mushroom thrown in. It's all cooked relatively evenly with no hard weird bits, unlike some of the other greens buns. The flavor is good overall, but it's simple. I cooked these in the steamer, but they are big enough that they touch the bottom of the lid!

Score: 4/5 - These are a great example of the typical "greens" dumplings, which is not a super exciting thing, but a tasty solid choice none the less.

Ponto Crepe de Herbe Italian Herbs Pancake

These Ponto Crepe de Herbe Italian Herbs Pancake have been in my freezer for a while. It's not that they're not good, it's just that they seemed an odd choice for dim sum. Would you put chili sauce or mushroom sauce on it, you know? I think we bought them at Kam Man, on our last trip close to a year ago, and haven't managed to work them in. The Italian Herbs part is a standard Italian blend, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano, basil. The herb flavor is noticeable but not overwhelming. The pancake itself is a pretty standard flaky and chewy pancake, but that's a good thing. We've been having them pan fried as a side with our last batch of split pea soup, and they work really well in that context so that's how I will likely use the rest of the package. A note on the pan frying, I did use just the smallest dash of oil, and the layers did puff up during cooking, which is always a good sign to me. Past Ponto pancakes had the same flaky quality, so I think I like the brand for their pancake offerings.

Score: 4.5/5 - While these Italian herb pancakes don't quite match up with dim sum, they are flaky and well flavored. Using them as a side worked out great.

Companion Crispy Vegetable Rolls

These Companion Crispy Vegetable Rolls are another H Mart frozen purchase. The outside is a tofu skin, while the inside is a soft, chewy textured vegetable protein with small chunks of water chestnut. The flavor has a touch of five spice or perhaps just licorice. We put these in the toaster oven, our usual, and the little crispness it gave to the skin was nice. The quantity in the package is quite small, there were five of those rolls in there, so I can't say it was a good deal. I liked these rolls, and I think they'd be good sliced up and put in a stir fry.

Score: 3.5/5 - These were pretty good, but they seem more like an ingredient than a finished dish. I liked them, but they're pricey.

China Pearl: Another Visit

Another visit to China Pearl! I mostly enjoyed retreads of dishes from these two posts. They sometimes surprise with new vegetarian offerings. In the case of our most recent trip, one of the servers suggested this veggie dish. I believe it came off the big serving station at one end of the dining room, like the Chinese broccoli. This dish is basically a fresh tofu roll. I've bought stuff like this in grocery stores in the past. The outside is a tofu skin roll, flavored with a little five spice and/or licorice, layered with cooked veggies, mushroom and carrot, and tofu pieces, and rolled into a spiral. There was a black coating or layer on the tofu, too, it might have been a little bit of nori seaweed, not sure? The roll was already sliced when it was brought to the table, which made it easy to share. It's served cold, which is typical for this kind of veggie roll. I think it's supposed to approximate a certain type of prepared duck. I like the flavor, and the texture, I am not sure if it would be for everyone. Cold, the flavors of the spices stand out a bit more, but I think more people would like it warm. It's a little sweet, and chewy. The layered prep helps lighten the density of the dense tofu in the filling.

And here's a re-tread of the veggie steam dumplings. These are simple in terms of flavor but still nice! The frozen peas and carrots on the top are funny.

Companion Fried Veggie Shrimp Rolls

I feel like rolls is a bit of a misnomer for these Companion Fried Veggie Shrimp Rolls that I bought at H Mart. These are more like veggie shrimp fingers. We just did them in the toaster oven, and I think that's probably the best way to do them so the breading all around crisps up. Pan frying wouldn't end up even, and deep frying (the suggested method if I recall correctly) would work but it would be pretty greasy. The bread-crumb texture was a little too crispy and thick for my taste, but it does OK at sticking to the roll. (Some chunks fell off during dipping.) The filling part has a bit of a skin around it, and it isn't a solid filling but is still pretty dense textured protein. The overall impression is sort of a very mild fish stick. I thought these were alright, but they didn't wow.

Score: 2.5/5 - A little rubbery, mild flavor, the crispy breading is nice. Probably won't buy these again, not my cup of tea, though I can see how other folks might be into them.

Trader Joe's Scallion Pancakes (Pa Jeon)

These Trader Joe's Scallion Pancakes are in the Korean style. They're thick compared to the Chinese style pancakes I've bought like these ones from Revere or these King's ones or these ones from Noodles House, with much larger chunks of veggies and perhaps an eggier batter. I have had mixed success cooking these. In the beginning, I was putting them into the toaster oven and letting them crisp up, and that was delicious! These have a fair amount of inherent grease in them, so I had to stop that as the drippings were all over the toaster and smoking up the kitchen. I may have to return to this method but using foil on the bottom since they haven't tasted as good when I pan fry them. They are perhaps too think to just pan fry on each side, they tasted undercooked in the middle in that preparation. These are very good with sweet chili sauce.

Score: 4/5 - These have been better and worse with different preparations, but the base flavor is good. An easy introduction to Korean-style savory pancakes.

Haioreum Korean Pancake with Sweet Rice

It's been a while! I have been busy as all get out, both at work and at home, and since our last move, we haven't been dim-summing quite as much! I can't say I think I'll be posting as frequently as before, as I do end up re-buying a lot of the same stuff, but I will make more of an effort in the next couple months!

So, these Cakes are again pretty much the same as the Green Tea and Corn and Barley versions. Chewy, slightly dense donut-y cake with a thin sweet and mild filling. The flavor for the filling of these is not as distinct as the others, but it's still good! I think my overall favorite has been the corn flavor.

Score: 3.5/5 - I can barely tell this flavor from the other equally enjoyable Haioreum pancakes, but yeah, it's good.