I love discovering great holes in the wall, and Dong Bei Dumpling is such. It was in a nondescript area of the street, with a nondescript sign, with its chairs and menu at the verge of dilapidation, the whole fascade almost uninviting and unappetizing. But the bite-size dumplings are juicy and tasty, their xiao long bao bursts with flavor, and their pancake stuffing - I've never tasted anything like it!
Dong Bei means North East. Northern Chinese flavors are less complex and made with lesser ingredients. Chinese food in the Philippines is mostly of Southern influence (geography makes sense), mostly of Cantonese origin (The Pancit Canton is a staple Filipino product)
Dumplings (stuffing: chives, celery, cabbage, pork) 14 pieces for Php 100
Steamed Xiao Long Pao for Php 60
Friend stuffing pancake for Php 100
Stuffing - garlic, pork and chives
Dong Bei Dumplings
642 Yuchengco Street (formerly Nueva)
corner Tytana St
Binondo, Manila, Philippines
Those basic pork dumplings were good, so were the stuffed pancakes. I didn't really enjoy the xiao long pao; it was too expensive and the skin broke easily so all of us weren't able to appreciate the broth inside the dumplings.
ReplyDeleteCantonese dumplings include the "siomai" variants that we are used to here in the Philippines, which are substantially different from the Dong Bei dumplings we had. The boiled pork dumplings are more typical of Beijing cuisine, and xiao long pao is more of a Shanghainese fare. Anyway, you can always verify when you go to China. :)
this is comfort food!
ReplyDelete