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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.