How now, lamb xiao long bao?
The lamb and green squash dumplings at Helen You’s Tianjin Dumpling House were a revelation when I first tasted them years ago at Flushing’s Golden Mall. The tiny packages filled with lamb emit a puff of ovine aroma and burst with juices when bitten into. They remain a feature of my food tour to this day. Three years ago she opened Dumpling Galaxy, a sit-down restaurant. While I love the variety it offers—100 kinds of dumplings—sometimes, really most of the time, I prefer the hawker stand.
When I heard You was offering off menu lamb soup dumplings at Dumpling Galaxy, I forgot all about my preference for the hawker stand and hightailed it over to the restaurant. After all I am as big a fan of lamb as I am of soup dumplings. To the best of my knowledge she’s the only one in New York City offering yang rou xiao long bao.
Chinese money dumplings are a festive Chinese New Year’s treat.
Dumpling Galaxy’s lamb xiao long bao are petite compared to some others out there, but boy are they packed with flavor. I could easily have polished off two orders, but I wanted to try something from the restaurant’s Chinese New Year’s menu, Chinese money dumplings or jinqian jiaozi.
These can be ordered with any filling, so I decided to double down on lamb. This time I opted for pickled mustard greens, which cut through the richness of the lamb very nicely. The lacy sheet of dough joining the quartet of dumplings makes for a festive presentation and fun eating too.
Dumpling Galaxy, 42-35 Main St., Flushing, 718-461-0808