Chinese - The Hungry Nomad

The art of eating a soup dumpling | Vancouver, B.C.

August 11, 2015 2 Comments

Before arriving my friend and partner-in-eating asked me where I wanted to eat while in Vancouver. My response was “everything Asian: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, whatever, as long as it’s Asian”. That in short sums up what I will be eating for the next few weeks. In a city with such a large community of Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, one thing is sure: the food will be amazing and options, endless to say the least. On our first day together we decided on dumplings. Because nothing can beat a little ball filled with a mixture of heavenly goodness. Being downtown and having no access to the Chinese mecca that is Richmond, we decided on the Dynasty House located on lower Robson street. Most of our Asian food adventures downtown revolve around the two block radius of lower Robson and Denman where many variety of Korean, Japanese and Chinese restaurants reside.

Dynasty Dumpling had a small line up out the door which can never be a bad thing. But within 15 minutes we were quickly seated (despite a little hiccup over having a child and stroller with us). Guests were quick to offer their table so as to accommodate us, on the other hand, the hostess was not very happy about us having a stroller. But in the end, a nice man offered up his table after witnessing the commotion.

I’ll skip a few lines detailing the bad service and get to the good part: the soup dumplings. The menu features Shanghaise dishes including a page filled with a variety of soup dumplings. We ordered the original pork dumplings and the pork and kimchi dumplings along with a variety of other dishes including other dumplings beef and rice cake, and honey glazed lotus roots. The first time I had a soup dumpling happened to be on a Chinatown tour in Philadelphia. It was there that I was taught the secret of how to eat a soup dumpling. Once served If you bite into one right away you will surely burn your tongue. It is best to wait at least a minute to let it cool. Then gently dipping your chopstick in the vinegar you can pick up the dumpling right underneath the chopstick and place in spoon. You will then have two options: 1- poke a hole and let the broth ooze onto the spoon before eating, or 2- biting off the top and sipping the broth before devouring the whole thing. Either way you are sure to feel the same effect: pure and simple ecstasy.

Asian, Chinese Food, New York, Szechuan, USA

Back in NYC eating Szechuan at Han Dynasty, East Village (NYC)

June 30, 2014 No Comments

There is nothing I love more than a trip to New York. The energy of the city, constant noise, traffic and crowds absolutely thrills me. The eating options aren’t so bad either. I have never been to anywhere in the world with as many different dining options as New York. As my readers know in the last year we made the very difficult move to Lafayette, Louisiana deep in cajun country where dining options are very (very) limited. So I spent a better part of two weeks researching and making a list of places I was to eat at while in New York.

Arriving on a friday, I first made a stop at popular midtown bagel joint where I chowed down a large New York Bagel with jalapeños spiked cream cheese. Verdict: Delicious! That night my friends and I headed down to the East Village to try Han Dynasty, Philly’s own restauranteur’s opening in New York. The small shop was packed solid and chaotic but the smell of the chili oil and fried pork was too good to pass up. And so we waited across the street until our table became available at 10 pm. Being a pro at Han dining (we were regulars in Philly) I took a glance at the menu, saw that it was the same, and ordered all the dishes I had been craving since our move from Philly: Dan Dan Noodles, wontons in chili oil, chicken in garlic sauce, prawn hot pot and much more.

Everything tasted exactly the same as the dishes in Philly and were served in the same quick manner and efficiency. The only difference I found was that the spiciness level was definitely not the same as Philly. Here even an 8 on the spicy scale seemed to go down without a fight. While I loved the simple dishes and low prices, I did not like the layout of the restaurant and tables which seemed to be sliding around due to the oil seeping out from the kitchen floors. Meanwhile, the bartender was yelling at the hostess telling her that she needed to ‘take control of the situation’ in front of a crowd of hungry on-lookers. All in all the service was again en par with that of Han’s Philly locations: good food, mediocre service!

Chinese Food, Dim Sum, Philadelphia

Dim Sum Garden- Chinatown (Philadelphia, USA)

September 4, 2012 2 Comments

Several weeks ago the Count and I along with a few friends went on the Free Tours by Foot Chinatown Food Tour. We walked through Philadelphia’s small yet historic Chinatown stopping by at the best spots for quick eats. The tour ended with a sit down lunch at Dim Sum Garden.

I have walked by this spot without bothering to look twice only because it is under the convention center overpass and I wrongfully must have assumed that it could not be good given it’s dark location. Wrong!

Best handmade dumplings I have had…and I am from Vancouver which is known for its mainland Chinese and Hong Kong delicacies. In fact, given that my best friend is Chinese doing Sunday ‘Dim Sum’ brunch was kind of our thing. This spot is not your typical sit down full service dim sum restaurant where they come around with their carts and you can pick and choose what you’d like to eat next. Here you order your dim sum at the counter and pay at the counter.

Now onto the actual dumplings: our tour guide knew a thing or two about dumplings and ordered a few rounds for the table. I have never had a soup dumpling (xiao long bao) and found it to be such a treat. There is an entire process to having a soup dumpling. You must gently place one in your spoon. Place a hole at the top to allow the hot steam to cool off and place the whole thing in your mouth without spilling the contents on the inside. Essentially it’s soup wrapped up in dough served with their own special dumpling sauce. Okay. That was great. Whats next?

Next was the Shanghai siu mai- sticky rice and minced pork dumplings. These were also a first for me and were a real treat. Sticky rice with small bits of pork all mixed with a delicious sauce and beautifully bundled up into a dumpling.

We also had the prawn dumplings, pork and chive dumplings and many other varieties of dumplings. One was better than the next. Best part is you know its fresh and handmade as you can see through the back counter where all the action is happening. It’s cheap dumpling at its best. Don’t be put off by the neon lights and interior facade. This is a place where you can satisfy your dumpling cravings not to go people watching (unless you enjoy watching suffering panhandlers and other characters on 11th street).