Learning How Not to Eat Soup Dumplings at Famous Sichuan
- By Robyn Lee
- Jan 4, 2010
- Comments
- Oh no.
"Oh god, did you just put the whole dumpling in your mouth?"
Colin didn't respond. His face was frozen. Probably because the soup in the dumpling was burning off the lining of his mouth.
"You're not supposed to do that! I thought you knew. ...Oh crap."
Pinkness crept into the outer rims of his eyes. Then tears welled up. He was still silent. If I were him I would've spat out the dumpling, but he decided to see how much pain his oral mucosa could endure. Either that, or he couldn't move. Tristan and I stared helplessly and maybe laughed a lil' bit until the very end.
- I'm not gonna lie; this photo makes me LOL.
"Oh god, my whole mouth feels burnt."
And that is why you do not stick a whole soup dumpling in your mouth, kiddies. If it hasn't had time to cool off, at least. Thank you, Colin, for setting an example for the rest of us. WE LOVE YOU.
- Tofu!
Thankfully, Colin is built tough and his taste buds appeared to work alright for the rest of our meal at Famous Sichuan. Their version of General Tso's Tofu continues to be the best fried tofu dish I've ever had. Admittedly, I haven't eaten many fried tofu dishes, but I'm hesitant to try any others and be disappointed. It's not just that the tofu cubes are crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside, but that there's a large pile of em. I don't want a little appetizer, I want a MOUNTAIN. Yeah, I'm a pig.
- Garlic! With spinach.
Sautéed spinach with garlic was great. Hard to go wrong with lots of spinach + lots of garlic.
- PORK.
I was less into the pork bacon with Sichuan pickle as it's called on the menu, or mei cai kou rou in Chinese (pointed out by Michele). I loved the pronounced layer of fat, but the meat tasted a bit dry and oversalted, and the bed of preserved mustard greens had too much of that funky fermented flavor for my liking. I still ate most of it because...um, it's PORK BELLY, but I had a better version of this at Yeah Shanghai Deluxe over a year ago; perhaps it's time to go back there.
- Little burning buns.
As for the crab and pork steamed buns (aka soup dumplings, aka xiao long bao), they're pretty good. They're not the prettiest dumpling nubs, but they're hearty and I like the taste of crab-infused pork.
Address
Famous Sichuan
10 Pell Street, New York, NY 10013 (map)
212-233-3888
Related
String Beans and More (String Beans) from Famous Sichuan
Grand Sichuan, I Love You
Another Flushing Food Tour: Dumplings, Crab, Shaved Ice, Stinky Tofu, Etc.
Comments
There's a wrong way to eat soup dumplings? Isn't there some point at which your mouth is so dead that you can enjoy the delicious oily soup at its peak temperature?
Dumpling zen yo^^.
I'M LAUGHING SO HARD RIGHT NOW. ohhhh colin..
Those dumplings are a bit 'chubby' to be called soup dumplings. Poor Colin, hehe. What a soldier he's. :)
Btw, what IS General Tso? What ingredients are used?
I ate an entire bamboo steamer full of xiao long bao at the Din Tai Fung in Beijing on Saturday, happiness! No mouth burn, as I carefully bit into the hot dumpling, sipped at the soup, then dipped into the ginger/vinegar mix. They also have a really good pepper porkchop! I wish I had taken a photo of the cooks prepping the xiao long bao in their open kitchen. Looked like spacemen fixing the space shuttle I tell you!
Nicholas: I don't want my mouth to die! :(
Veronica: We can RELIVE THE MAGIC when you are here. Make Colin eat something else that's hot that he doesn't know about. :)
Kim: Wikipedia says: "ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, Shaoxing wine or sherry, sugar, sesame oil, scallions, and hot chili peppers." NOM NOM!
Mila: Damn, I wanna go to Din Tai Fung. And I want a pork chop. And I haven't eaten lunch yet so now I'm just HONGRY.
I AM INVINCIBLE
I thought Colin was a vegan too. Ha... dumpling retaliated.
His expression is priceless.
DH was in Shanghai and was told "Bite off the top, slurp out the hot soup, then eat the rest." Makes sense to us...scalding the tongue can be a real bummer when you want to enjoy the rest of the meal!
Colin: YAAY
D: Nope, that stopped sometime...last spring, perhaps. And it's definitely made eating easier. WOOT!
Bonnie: I bite the side or the top and do my slurping. Mmmmm.
Colin looks like he's in pain!
As for Tristan: I can't tell if his expression is that of concern or glee. Or both.
Dumplings: love the steamed shrimp ones (hakaw? Har gao? Har gaw?) but I reserved my greatest love for pork dumplings swimming in mushroom and pork broth. YUM.
The pork looks so good though! Damn you funky pork!
Mahar: A little bit of both. ;)
I love FRIED PORK DUMPLINGS!
Tia: The pork is full of DECEPTION! ..Just kidding. Still tasty, just could've been better.
damn those tofu chunks look awesome. I have to go try those next time at Famous Sichuan. Every time I walk by Pell street, it's the barber shops that catch my attention instead...
Mahar: that's way too many instructions for anything I want to eat, no matter how yummy. I'm not fond of food ambushery.
Danny: I think Joe's Shanghai across the street also steals the thunder from Famous Sichuan. Doh!
This looks delish...but I wish you would GO BACK TO PARIS!!!!
sorry :(
This made me laugh so much! Although I also can also imagine the pain. OUCH! :)
that capture is totally awesome! made me laugh soooo hard. mmm dumplings
I SOLed (snorted out ...). Pretty much anyone who has eaten soup dumplings twice knows this situation intimately.