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.

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.