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.

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!