Say the word “dumpling” in the South and the mind immediately goes to a deep, homey classic – chicken stew studded with tender vegetables, rich gravy and flour-based, herb-flecked dough shaped into rounds or rolled flat and cut into wide “noodles.” Those dumplings are lovely, but New Orleans has gone Asian dumpling crazy with fanatics questing for the perfect potsticker: soft wonton skin wrappers wound around pork, shrimp, vegetables or a combination thereof, pan-crisped golden on one side, then steamed till cooked through. Ambitious cooks can make potstickers entirely from scratch, or use pre-made wonton skins, or leave the whole this to the experts and order batches from a restaurant.
Jung's dumplings: soft + crispy = perfect (Lorin Gaudin)
Chinese food is storied in New Orleans with our infamous Lee family forging the delicious culinary path long ago. My own search for potstickers has taken me on quite a journey around the metro area into many small cafes, kitchens and markets, with Chinese language-only menus, involving lots of gesturing or my bumbling Chinese. I discovered many Chinese restaurants have “secret” menus where the “good stuff’ lives and is only offered to those diners who manage to make into a restaurant’s “circle of trust.” Dumplings/potstickers tend to appear on both the American and “secret” menus, but when ordered from the “secret” menu, are somehow different, better. These dumplings are my benchmark. And it is said that the skins make the dumpling. If they’re good, they’re good; if they’re bad, they’re awful.
What have I found? Some doughy, squishy, gummy, tasteless messes, and then a few delights: delectable, thick-skinned (in a good way) vegetable potstickers with bits of opalescent glass noodles tucked among the cabbage, carrot and mushroom mince at Five Happiness; smallish, thin-skinned dumplings encasing tight balls of finely minced flavor-packed shrimp and chestnuts at Royal China; and finally the mac daddy of all potstickers – the perfectly textured, beautifully prepared and presented, pork-a-licious potstickers at Jung’s Golden Dragon II on Magazine Street.
Jung’s exterior is a strange disco-era style of black marble, brass and lights. The oddly Rococo-esque, heavily carved and colored wood interior was someone’s wacky idea of an Asian restaurant, inherited by the current owners (they’ve had a Chinese restaurant in the Metro area for over 30 years). Distracting, funny yet fitting, it serves to highlight the food and Jung’s potstickers are the gold standard. Perfectly crafted, housemaid dumpling dough, rolled to the proper thickness (thicker in the middle, thinner at the edges), holds a delectable blend of ground pork, scallion, ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil. Shaped into crescents, the dumplings are nestled close in a small skillet, cooked tender and crisp. A crackly skin covers the lot when turned out onto a plate for service. There is a tangy soy-based “dumpling” sauce for dipping, but it is best replaced by a sharp mixture of a spoonful of the chilis from the bottom of the chili oil and a fat splash of Chinkiang black vinegar.
Jung’s potstickers are a meal for two (with icy bottles of Tsing Tao beer), or an appetizer to share family style. It can be had – brilliant Chinese dumplings right here in New Orleans. The dumpling quest may continue, but for now, it’s mission accomplished.
Lorin Gaudin is the author of the GoNOLA food column, “A Little Bit of Everything” and the creator of the culinary site, FiveOhFork.
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