Dumplings are one of those foods, like, pizza and burgers, that even when they’re bad, they’re still pretty good. But when they’re good — made with care and high-quality ingredients — they are truly special. And people who have visited Helen You’s Tianjin Dumpling, the eight-year-old Golden Shopping Mall stall in Flushing, know that she specializes in filling combinations found nowhere else. Now she’s debuted the full-service Dumpling Galaxy at the much roomier Arcadia Mall, offering upwards of 100 different varieties of dumplings.
What’s the reason for the expansive menu? “I started from there and couldn’t stop,” You tells Grub, explaining that unlike other standard-bearer pork and chive places around the city, she fills all her dumplings to order — that’s almost unheard of, anywhere. Furthermore, she now plans to overhaul the menu every other year, which means Dumpling Galaxy’s selection will only grow as expansively, like its name indicates, with age. But before that happens, here’s a very necessary primer: a look at 33 of the most unusual, tastiest, and most unexpectedly sweet renditions on the menu.
Duck and Mushrooms
Duck and Mushrooms
Dried Octopus
Dried Octopus
Americans probably don’t think dessert when they hear mushroom. But in China, hawthorn, tart red fruit, and white wood ear mushroom are used to make a popular dessert soup. At Dumpling Galaxy, the cooks deploy a heavier hand with the anise.
Americans probably don’t think dessert when they hear mushroom. But in China, hawthorn, tart red fruit, and white wood ear mushroom are used to make a popular dessert soup. At Dumpling Galaxy, the cooks deploy a heavier hand with the anise.
Pork and Bitter Melon
Pork and Bitter Melon
It’s a style of dumpling called tangyuan. Tang means soup, approximately, which is why the glutinous rice balls are cooked in and served in the soup. Only mildly sweet, this strawberry dumpling is made with a sticky rice wrapper and served in a rice-vinegar based broth.
It’s a style of dumpling called tangyuan. Tang means soup, approximately, which is why the glutinous rice balls are cooked in and served in the soup. Only mildly sweet, this strawberry dumpling is made with a sticky rice wrapper and served in a rice-vinegar based broth.
Before cooking, the squid is soaked in Shaoxing cooking wine to temper its fishiness and tenderize the meat.
Before cooking, the squid is soaked in Shaoxing cooking wine to temper its fishiness and tenderize the meat.
Traditional Steamed Seafood
Traditional Steamed Seafood
Everyone’s favorite flavor.
Everyone’s favorite flavor.
Pork and Bamboo Shoot
Pork and Bamboo Shoot
Fish with Pickled Vegetables
Fish with Pickled Vegetables
Eight Treasures
Eight Treasures
Egg with Dill
Egg with Dill
As a kid in Tianjin, You savored countless bowls of beef and tomato stew. The two ingredients, she feels, always go well together. She created this dumpling to pay homage to her childhood and grandmother, whose cooking she was raised on.
As a kid in Tianjin, You savored countless bowls of beef and tomato stew. The two ingredients, she feels, always go well together. She created this dumpling to pay homage to her childhood and grandmother, whose cooking she was raised on.
The string beans are sautéed with a pinch of garlic before being mixed with the lamb.
The string beans are sautéed with a pinch of garlic before being mixed with the lamb.
Beef with Carrots
Beef with Carrots
For this dumpling, You uses a small amount of crab roe to accent the fresh, subtle, and “greaseless” tofu.
For this dumpling, You uses a small amount of crab roe to accent the fresh, subtle, and “greaseless” tofu.
Mushroom with Eggplant
Mushroom with Eggplant
Pork With Preserved Egg, Pan-fried
Pork With Preserved Egg, Pan-fried
Egg and Cucumber
Egg and Cucumber
Two types of seafood highly prized in China, fish and scallop, are combined for this dumpling.
Two types of seafood highly prized in China, fish and scallop, are combined for this dumpling.
Lamb and Green Pepper
Lamb and Green Pepper
Pork with Corn
Pork with Corn
You uses fish roe in this dumpling not just for its texture and salty flavor, which complements the mild cod well, but because “it looks beautiful.”
You uses fish roe in this dumpling not just for its texture and salty flavor, which complements the mild cod well, but because “it looks beautiful.”
Pork and Dill
Pork and Dill
Preserved Egg and Pine Nut
Preserved Egg and Pine Nut
Chinese yam is a white tuber that’s sometimes rare to find here, because it is difficult to cultivate.
Chinese yam is a white tuber that’s sometimes rare to find here, because it is difficult to cultivate.
Hawthorn and Nuts
Hawthorn and Nuts
Lamb and Squash
Lamb and Squash
Lamb and Celery
Lamb and Celery
You is devoted to lotus root for its “special crunchy texture,” which she felt would make a great complement to tender fish.
You is devoted to lotus root for its “special crunchy texture,” which she felt would make a great complement to tender fish.
A bonanza of vegetables are tightly packed into this dumpling, including bamboo shoots, bok choy, cabbage, celery, corn, mushrooms, carrots, and spinach.
A bonanza of vegetables are tightly packed into this dumpling, including bamboo shoots, bok choy, cabbage, celery, corn, mushrooms, carrots, and spinach.
Another essential pick. For this, You seasons the beef with homemade chile oil and a little bit of cumin. While cumin is quite popular in Tianjin, as it is in much of northern China, the dumpling is actually most in demand among her Indian friends and customers.
Another essential pick. For this, You seasons the beef with homemade chile oil and a little bit of cumin. While cumin is quite popular in Tianjin, as it is in much of northern China, the dumpling is actually most in demand among her Indian friends and customers.
The Dumpling Galaxy storefront.
Dumpling Galaxy, 42-35 Main St., nr. Franklin Ave., Flushing; 718-461-0808
Related: A Guide to All the Wings at Seoul Chicken, NYC’s Newest Korean-Fried-Chicken Destination
