There are several dishes that come to mind on a cold winter's night - steamboat or hotpot as some would call it, herbal lamb pot and boiled dumplings! Tonight we tried a new restaurant called Dumpling Kitchen on Canterbury Rd, Blackburn South. Opened only for three months, this family owned restaurant serves home made dumplings and noodles.
We ordered the Shan Dong noodle soup, fried rice noodles with beef slices and 10 pieces of Xiao Long Bao. Gaz loves XLB, it is his benchmark for a good dumpling restaurant.
The fried rice noodles were delicious, full of breath of the wok. Importantly, it did not appear too oily as some others are.
The Shan Dong noodles were highly recommended by the friendly owner. The family originated from Shan Dong province in China. The term Shan Dong noodles probably refers to the type of noodles and how it is made rather than the way the dish is cooked. In Dumpling Kitchen, the noodles are served in a home made chicken broth with chinese cabbage or wong nga bak, chinese mushrooms, slices of chicken, prawns and ginger. We were assured that the home made chicken stock will be free of any MSG. True enough, the soup was subtly tasty and the noodles were springy and fresh.
The XLB though not home made was pleasantly light. I have read somewhere that XLB is considered a peasant food as the filling is made from fatty bits and pieces of pork which produces the 'soup' in the dumplings. The owner told us that the rest of the dumplings are home made by her mother. The next time we visit this place, I'll be sure to order some of those!
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