Hey, good morning. Today, I am in - well, the middle of nowhere - actually it's the backyard to my house.
I'm about to head into the city today because as you can see
There's probably not a lot of good restaurants around here in the woods and on a cold day like this
I am craving a juicy meaty dumpling. So I figured let's go on a dumpling tour.
And I did this dumpling tour for Insider, but then a lot of people started messaging me,
asking how come I never did a dumpling tour for my own channel? So here it is, and the first stop -
We're in Manhattan and probably - no, not probably - that's the best dumpling restaurant in all of Manhattan, Fu Zhou cuisine.
What I like about this place is it's really simple -
Rustic place, got a family vibe and things, although they come in simple containers taste just absolutely marvelous.
Now I never had the wontons here before so I thought I'd give it a try, plus it's such a cold day. At first glance -
All right. These are really tiny wontons with tiny filling. Of course
I like my wontons just meaty and substantial. These look like tiny little sea creature
wontons with floating tentacles.
I like the soup - wontons, like I expected, not the best. So guys, skip this when you come here, but
the star of the show has arrived. First glance at these dumplings -
the thing that you should notice right away is that it's almost like you have x-ray vision, you can see
through the wrapper on these dumplings, and that is amazing because that just shows how thin these wrappers are.
I almost want to tell these dumplings to put more clothes on.
I mean, I really don't think these dumplings can go outside like this, seriously.
Only thing sad is they don't have hot oil here. So a little dumpling sauce, a little sriracha, bit of white pepper...
Mix that around.
What is love?
This is love. One of my favourite sights -
Delightful dumpling, and let's just take a look inside.
Okay - stuffed with filling, juicy pork,
crunchy chives, gives it such a light garlicky flavour, and all that flavorful filling is wrapped ever so lightly, gently covered
by this almost silk-like dumpling skin. Dipping it in a little bit of soy sauce,
a little spice, just highlights all the amazing porky, chivey flavour of this dumpling - and trust me,
you'll blow through this plate like nothing. These are all like one biters.
And sometimes when you eat a chive and pork dumpling, you can't really taste the chive - not here.
Man, this chive is fresh, it's fragrant -
I mean, definitely don't try to kiss anybody, or even walk close to anybody after eating this, but you know what?
Having a day of no human interaction?
It's worth it for these dumplings.
And I got these. These are also a type of dumpling -
this is a fish ball with meat inside. So this is basically like a surf and turf dumpling.
You take a bite -
the fish ball is nice and bouncy like it should be, I mean
that's a telltale sign of a good fish ball. If you throw it against the wall, it bounces right back at ya.
And that was some fatty meat filling on the inside - dip a bit more in this little light broth. This may not be for everybody.
I love it. Just a light fish flavour, completely contrasted by the juicy meat on the inside.
You may never want to eat a fish ball ever in your life -
I get that, but I love these. And when you come here, this is really the only one to get, the chive and pork.
That's like the all-time favorite dumpling flavor for Chinese people. Last one. Good thing is, this dumpling tour is just starting, so
More dumplings to come. Kind of sad, because I'm missing this already.
What's also great about this place is that you can buy frozen ones and take it home with you
Cuz then you can have these dumplings anytime you want. Be careful with that though, because back in 2010
I went on a strictly dumpling diet, ha, hence the name of my channel - all frozen dumplings, all day long,
because it's just so easy, and it's delicious. You just have to boil it, dip it in some sauce -
that's a great breakfast, lunch or dinner. And after a month of that, yeah, I got myself a little dumpling belly. Yeah, that's a thing.
Okay, onto the next location.
This place makes amazing fish dumplings. Never had fish dumplings before? You need to try it.
Oh, that's skills right there. She's rolling, like, about ten peels at the same time. Look at that!
That is skills.
Oh, here we are!
Swim to me baby. Some soy sauce. No hot oil here, just like, these - this typical
garlicky hot sauce. If you have some garlic,
and some Chinese vinegar...
These dumplings - the skin's a little thicker than the ones from Manhattan. Look how adorably plump they look!
I mean, when I'm poking it, I'm almost expecting it to giggle like the Pillsbury Doughboy.
These fish dumplings are made fresh on site.
And one thing about these dumplings is that they are JUICY. There is a lot of juice in these dumplings.
All right, let's take this thing for a swim, shall we?
*whistles* *makes splashing sound*
Ah, I just wish it had some hot oil.
Oh, that is a good dumpling.
You just get a gorgeously clean fish flavour, so incredibly tender, with just a slight crunch from the onions.
I've had a lot of fish dumplings in my day - some are really bad, and typically
fish dumplings - it is not my favorite type of dumpling. It's not something I would ever order in a restaurant.
But this place - that's what they're known for, and they excel at it. The skin, although thicker than the last place,
is still delightfully thin and melts in your mouth. It's my favourite part every single bite.
I mean, just look at it glisten,
it's like the fish inside the dumpling
is still swimming in a lake of juice. And you gotta eat it when the fish is fresh,
so as soon as they serve it, put it into your mouth, and that's gonna be the juiciest,
one of the best bites of dumplings you can have in New York City.
All right, let's keep on going. The next place - my favorite place for dumplings in all of New York City.
There's something I don't see a lot in Chinese food courts - a mini karaoke booth. Oh, I gotta try this!
Singing burns off calories. So before my next dumpling meal,
Let's get some exercise. You really can't hear anything outside.
And then here's the whole thing...
Okay, so one dollar went in...
Alright, so one song is two dollars. You can see - 15 minutes, 30 minutes, all the way to 90 minutes -
can you imagine staying here for 90 minutes, just singing? I love this song.
Headphones, here we go, I'm ready. *singing* Just close your eyes...
The sun is going down
...you'll be alright...
Yeah, I'm not really worried about copyright, cuz this probably doesn't sound at all like her. That was fun!
I think I've burned off a few dumplings doing that. And sorry, it did sound a lot better in my head.
Best dumplings in New York City can be found right here at the Golden Mall.
It looks a little gritty but hey, it's got good food. So let's venture in.
There's a ton of little stalls selling all sorts of delicious fare, but this - this is why I come here.
These dumplings are the best you could ever find. And just a tip. They have a, uh,
location, a newer location that's fancier,
but the dumplings cost a lot more, so you should come here. And the dumpling you should get
is the pork dumpling with dill - and it's $6 for 12. 50 cents a dumpling, not a bad deal.
Of course, all my favorite condiments. Chinese vinegar, hot oil...
Alright, this may not be the cleanest place, but just concentrate on the delicious dumplings. You'll be fine.
Let me just get the sauces ready. A little soy, a little Chinese vinegar, a lot of hot oil.
Now I'm ready.
A steaming plate of dumplings.
Right away, you can tell
these dumplings ain't messing around. Look at the size of these boogers.
These things can climb the Empire State Building while holding a beautiful blonde in his hands. And the skin, you can tell right now, the skin -
extremely thin. These will be the juiciest regular dumplings you might ever have. They're almost like soup dumplings,
they're so juicy. And this is one of a few places -
I don't get pork and chive here, which is also - that's a really good dumpling as well,
but if you come here, you've got to get the dill. You know, dill in Chinese is called 'huíxiāng',
which also means 're-smelling the fragrance', and that is very accurately named because
that is a fragrance, and trust me, you'll want to smell it twice. Here we go. Can't wait too long.
Man, I'm gonna get demonetized for this. Oh my god.
You gotta see this. Do you see that little pool of juice sitting on the bottom?
That's from all the pork fat, and that's all contained in this thin, barely-there dumpling wrapper
that makes just the most deliciously delicate vessel for these soupy, porky, dewy dumplings.
They're so incredibly flavorful. I tried dumplings all around New York City -
I tried to find something better than this, but it doesn't exist.
The only one that comes close is the one I had in Manhattan,
but even that doesn't touch this as the king of dumplings. I like to just take the whole thing and put it in my mouth.
It's like a dumpling grenade and juice just explodes everywhere.
Bite and suck at the same time, so you don't waste a drop of that magical dumpling juice.
This is where I come to,
when I really want to bite of home, cuz back in the day, you go to your grandparents house, you sit around, make dumplings together...
And the bite of love you experience with those dumplings -
it's something I get here.
It's just homey comfort food at its finest.
Best dumplings in New York City, hands down - best dumplings in New York City.
I'm not talking about soup dumplings, not talking about anything else. I'm just talking about regular Chinese dumplings.
No one can touch them. And the dill, true to its name -
remarkably fragrant.
It's almost like the fragrance of the dill is kind of just, just hugging that juicy pork.
It just tastes like you're wandering around a misty, fragrant field.
It makes every single one of your taste buds come alive - seriously, every single bite. You just want to go ahead and just *inhales* -
close your eyes,
and enjoy, because this - this is an intimate dumpling experience, my friend. These are the only dumplings that puts me in a danger of
relapsing on my dumpling diet, because I have, like,
four bags of these frozen at home, and they're hidden deep in my freezer
so I don't see it conveniently and eat 'em all in like, two days.
It's still early. I don't want this dumpling day to end, um...
Let's go grab a drink. And let's see if we can find some more dumplings to try.
The happy lemon cheese foam green tea -this is my guilty pleasure right here. If you get this here,
you gotta ask for a sippy top, because you'll want every sip of this tea with some of that delicious cheese foam.
I never knew lemons could be so happy until I had this.
Oh my god, right outside the door...
That's now a really sad lemon. All right. I know I've mentioned this place many times before, it's been in a couple of my videos,
but I couldn't imagine having a best dumplings of New York video without including
Kung Fu soup dumplings.
Two o'clock on a Friday -
packed. I know this is a dumpling video, but he's just brought over this dan dan noodles to me, and I'm not gonna say no to food.
Ah, this looks good - some suan tsai, or preserved vegetables, on top, some peanut sauce, some spinach. Ooh, I smell the peanuts already.
Something about peanutty noodles, it's like a food subtractor. It just makes me hungry all over again.
That's pretty yummy. I'm surprised I never got this before.
Creamy, spicy,
the noodles were al dente - this is a good post dumpling, pre soup dumpling food item. I've actually been trying really hard to find
wontons better than these around New York, and I just haven't been able to do it. Tons of hot oil,
peanut sauce... These wontons - what I love about them is how thin their skin is.
Give it a good mix, get that peanut sauce equally distributed. Also, the filling is a good size -
it's not huge, but it's proportionate. Best wontons I'm able to find in New York.
I know these are not
the traditional dumplings, and that was what my video today was gonna be focused on, but when I'm eating dumplings in New York,
this is just like a automatic food reflex to come here. The only place that has si-gua soup dumplings.
If you don't know si-gua, it's a type of squash...
Oh no, I busted it! Now I have to risk burning my tongue,
to just basically swallow this dumpling in one bite.
Never fails. This thing gives it to me every time.
A lot of people tell me that I should go eat at Din Tai Fung, and that's the best soup dumpling they ever had -
I'm telling you guys. Trust me. Come here and eat this - you'll be like 'Din Tai what?'
SO much flavour.
That soup is so gelatinous -
full of fatty, lovely flavour. A little crunch from the si-gua - and these things, they don't really fill you up.
I can eat dozens of these and still feel pretty good to go. I mean, I've been eating dumplings all day today, and biting into that -
it's like I'm eating a dumpling for the first time. And again, I get that these are not the traditional dumplings
I was trying to feature in this video, but man, I just *sighs*
I had to make this dumpling stop.
*sneezes*
Oh, no,
the sneezes of fullness have found me.
Man, I did have a lot of dumplings today, but that's okay,
I just gotta push through. I got some chocolate soup dumplings and let's see how I feel after that.
*sneezes again*
Ah, and this is the crown jewel right here.
Chocolate soup dumplings. I tried to replicate these in my kitchen - I couldn't even do it. Nutella, piece of banana...
They make their dumpling wrapper here, and it's just glorious.
If you've never tried that before - bucket list.
I should be done, I ate a lot of dumplings today, some chocolate soup dumplings... that should be a good wrap,
but I feel like I'm needing something else. Let's go to one more place.
I know it's cold,
but after a day of dumplings, I gotta come to my favourite bingsoo spot. In my opinion, best bingsoo in New York City.
This place -
the shaved ice is amazing, you know, not the artificial serve or anything,
but just the shaved ice itself, so fluffy and powdery like it is in Korea. You could ski down this.
And it's all powder. Actually, today it's damper than usual.
Out of all the shaved ice places in New York, there's Snow Days, whatever else... This is the best place I've found.
And this - this is the icy, sweet closure I needed after a day of dumpling-eating.
Oh, melon flavour's the best. You guys, of course, as always, all the places that I went to are listed in my description box below.
Give those dumpling places a try, and let me know how you like it. So, until we eat again... See you later.