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.

Kirin Steamed Buns Chestnut

These Kirin Steamed Buns Chestnut were big! I bought them at H Mart in the frozen section, and steamed them. The dough was especially soft and silky. The flavor was pasty but not dry, thick and creamy. The flavor was definitely chestnut, but it was a sort of mild flavor. Occasionally there was a not-fully-mashed bit of chestnut, which indicated that real chestnuts were used as a major ingredient in the filling. I liked these buns, but they weren't showstoppers. I would consider buying them again.

Score: 3.5/5 - I wish the flavor had a little more wow, but the texture of the dough and filling were great and they were an overall pleasant experience.

Samlip Kimchi Dumpling

These kimchi dumplings are from the same line as these vegetable and leek dumplings I've been loving. The kimchi flavor is very mild, and the filling is otherwise similar to that of the vegetable version of these dumplings, with a little soy protein. These are good, but I think my favorite of the lot is still the leek flavor. I will get around to buying those again soon at H Mart!

Score: 4/5 - Another respectable entry in the Samlip dumpling line. I would definitely buy these again.