Meat Dumplings (扁食)
When I first heard of the term "扁食"....I was kinda scratching my head. I have never heard of this culinary term...ever....since it literally translates into 'flattened food".
Turns out, it is this Wanton looking thing. Although also called "Meat Dumplings", this form is a tad different from the more well known Gyoza type. The skin is thinner and instead of serving it pan-seared, it is cooked into a soup. Folks who ever had Cantonese style Wanton could place it down easily as "oh...I know what it is now!".
There are 2 famous 扁食 shops in Hualian (花蓮). This is from "花蓮液香扁食" (038326761.tw.tranews.com/). For a shop of considerable fame, the interior is pretty spartan. Though bright and airy, it closely resembles a makeshift shop house that has yet to complete its renovation.
The price is standard - NT$60 for a bowl. As taste goes, it is a very tasty bowl of wanton soup. Unlike the real wantons though, the filling of this dish does not contain seafood and is very pork based. Despite that, there is no overwhelming 'piggy-ness' to upset the most picky of tasters and the soup was both sweet and umami and provided an excellent backdrop to accentuate the taste of the dumplings.
Meat Dumplings (扁食)
When I first heard of the term "扁食"....I was kinda scratching my head. I have never heard of this culinary term...ever....since it literally translates into 'flattened food".
Turns out, it is this Wanton looking thing. Although also called "Meat Dumplings", this form is a tad different from the more well known Gyoza type. The skin is thinner and instead of serving it pan-seared, it is cooked into a soup. Folks who ever had Cantonese style Wanton could place it down easily as "oh...I know what it is now!".
There are 2 famous 扁食 shops in Hualian (花蓮). This is from "花蓮液香扁食" (038326761.tw.tranews.com/). For a shop of considerable fame, the interior is pretty spartan. Though bright and airy, it closely resembles a makeshift shop house that has yet to complete its renovation.
The price is standard - NT$60 for a bowl. As taste goes, it is a very tasty bowl of wanton soup. Unlike the real wantons though, the filling of this dish does not contain seafood and is very pork based. Despite that, there is no overwhelming 'piggy-ness' to upset the most picky of tasters and the soup was both sweet and umami and provided an excellent backdrop to accentuate the taste of the dumplings.