Haioreum Red Bean Bun with Mellow Pumpkin

I am so torn on these buns. These are basically just red bean buns with a less lumpy filling. The pumpkin flavor is quite mellow, to the point I thought of these as just mild red bean buns. I was less impressed the first time than the second, but really, these are just mild buns. The dough is a little bit tinted, but it's basically plain dough. These are fine but not interesting.

Score: 3/5 - Fine, but not interesting.

ChoripDong Sweet Red Bean Bun

These red bean filled fishes were another H Mart score. I think I have perfected my technique for cooking these types of buns. I preheat them a little in the microwave, then into the toaster oven they go. These red bean ones are pretty much the same on the outside as the custard fish, but the red bean filling is firmer than the custard. The red bean filling is innocuous enough, not too sweet or anything, but I am just not that into it. It's a little too much firm filling, I feel like the red bean does better in fluffy buns or those cakes with buttery crusts, it was just too much in the thin fish waffle shell.

Score: 3/5 - I didn't love these, but they were alright. Splitting one between two people is enough. I give the custard fish an edge!

Samlip Red Bean Bun

These red bean buns, bought frozen at H Mart, are pretty good! They're a medium-large size, with a generous portion of smooth red bean filling. The filling is standard, but good. Sweetened, but not over the top, and firm enough not to drip when it's hot, but still quite smooth and moist. The dough, however, is the unique component. Texturally, I thought it was pretty good. The dough is a little chewy and bready, but soft. The green color is, of course, fake, but indicates the flavor, which is "artemisia" leaf. Artemisia is the genus of plants including wormwood and tarragon. Ross and I were both puzzled by the flavor, and had to look at the ingredients. His initial guess was that it was spinach, my initial thought was rye. I'm not doing a good job of indicating the flavor with our guesses, but the best general description I could give is savory herbal but pleasant. I have a feeling that it tastes like tarragon, but I don't use tarragon in my own home cooking so I can't judge. (I'm going to have to start using it now!) Anyway, the sort of hearty flavor of the bun dough balanced the sweet red bean paste, and texturally, they were a good match, with the dough remaining springy enough to rip pieces off and retain filling.

Score: 4/5 - These were fascinating. I will definitely want to have them again. Too bad they only come in a three-pack!

China Pearl Review

China Pearl (9 Tyler St., Boston, MA) is a huge dim sum palace that I have frequented on numerous occasions. This is the typical, red and gold decorated, push carts and punch-cards type of dim sum place. Have I mentioned that this place actually has two floors? Ack, I think they have an elevator for the carts! I recently visited for my friend Nicole's birthday, in a party of 10. We were lucky to get seated rapidly.

With so many people in the party, we were able to get and try a lot of stuff. I of course stuck to the vegetarian stuff, so there aren't any meaty pictures here... Even with a few of my favorites awol (the rice roll long donut, fried bread inside a rice roll doused in sweet soy sauce, is an elusive target, with the chance of getting it 50/50 any time you go, and the half-moon vegetable dumplings with walnut were also impossible to find this time), I still stuffed myself like crazy. It's hard to eat it all even if you take it easy.

First up, Chinese broccoli with dark sauce. This vegetable is a crispy stalk, like a broccoli rabe with more stalk and less leaf and buds, which is lightly sauteed. They put a dark sauce on this that may not be vegetarian. It's a savory umami sauce, I buy similar sauces for use at home that are vegetarian, but it could be oyster sauce... So sometimes I avoid this, but it is very tasty and probably the healthiest thing here.

Egg custard cups! They're flaky and light on the outside, and firm but smooth on the inside. The custard flavor is eggy, but not dominantly so. Better than buying them at a pastry shop.

Lotus buns, steam buns with sticky sweet paste on the inside. I have never gotten much from lotus paste as a flavor. It's a simple smooth sweet paste. The texture is good, it's not mealy or grainy, just soft and almost creamy.

Sesame balls are a classic favorite. These are chewy thick dough balls coated in sesame seeds with red bean paste on the insides. They're deep fried, so they end up a little crispy on the outside. The flavors are distinct, with the toasted sesame crust and an actual strong red-bean flavor for the paste.

These baked custard buns have the same custard inside them that the next bunch of fluffy custard buns. The custard is softer than in the custard pastry tarts, quite sweet, but still eggy. The crust on top is a sugar crumble crust, sweet but not too sweet. The bread of the bun itself is fluffy and just a little chewy. In the right corner of the picture you can see a tofu skin roll poking out. These are like giant sprint rolls with a wrapped tofu skin instead of a pastry wrapper. They are deep fried. The filling has strips of bamboo shoot, mushroom bits, carrots, baby corn, and such. The filling is pieces of these veggies, pretty well cooked, but large, and will totally just fall out of there. The rolls are relatively oily, but I love em. Don't know why I don't have a separate picture...

Next, fluffy steamed custard buns... How can you go wrong? Other than finger photo bombs...

A relatively new offering for China Pearl, edamame. These were pretty thoroughly steamed, and lightly spiced. There was a distinct sea-salt flavor, but some other subtle spices. Definitely some light pepper. There were hints of other spices I couldn't pin down. Maybe there was a tiny bit of ginger in the water? While I thought these could have been a cooked a little less, I thought the flavor was surprisingly subtle and good.

Finally, true desserts. This is silken tofu in a light honey ginger sauce. The honey is dilute, and the ginger flavor is light. The tofu is otherwise unsweetened. It's a surprise hit dessert. I should have taken a picture to show you of the serving cart, which has a giant wooden barrel for the soft tofu, which the server ladles out into bowls, then pours on the sauce. It's a very different dessert, and not overwhelmingly sweet. On the left, you can see the mango pudding cup. It's more of a firm jello, but it't probably made with agar, it's that firm. There are little shreds of real mango in there, too.

Overall, China Pearl gives the full dim sum experience, and actually has a lot of vegetarian stuff, though if you don't know what's what, you could have a hard time. Ask the waiters and the servers, but be aware that a fair number of the cart servers don't speak a lot of English. The maitre'd is a busy person, but can help you out in a pinch. Anyway, even if you just get your regular frozen favorites, like custard buns, they're just a little better fresh from a cart! And frankly, this is a cheap proposition. You probably couldn't manage $20 of dim sum a person!

Score: 4.5/5 - There's plenty of good stuff here besides sweets. Beware of sauces!

Red Diamond Hong Kong Style Dim Sum Red Bean A Te Bun

Red bean buns are a favorite of a good friend of mine. The filling in these Red Diamond Hong Kong Style Dim Sum Red Bean A Te Buns is pretty good, smooth and not extremely dry or pasty. The flavor is very mild, just a little sweet. Not so bean-y. The bun size is on the small side, but I think that's the way it goes with the dense, sweet buns. I bought these frozen at the Kam Man in the South Bay Shopping Center.

Score: 3/5 - These are a decent straight red bean bun, nothing exciting.