传奇 • 拉面 • 刀削面 Chuan Qee – Generous Servings of Handmade Dumplings with Chives!

In my attempt to find more hidden gems around my office, I chanced upon this random Chinese food stall known for their Xiao Long Bao (XLB). As someone who LOVES dumplings, I was really excited about their food, especially their Guo Tie. 

Upon reaching the stall, we were told the sad news of how they are no longer selling XLBs. *Cues sad violin music* The couple, who came from Shan Dong, China, shared that they were unable to keep up the tedious work of wrapping so many different types of dumplings every day. Thus, they have decided to remove it from the menu and focus on their bestsellers, the Guo Tie and Shui Jiao.

They also sell frozen handmade dumplings too. It’s quite worth it if you want some authentic Chinese pork and chives dumplings as an add on to your meal. They are going at $10 for 30 pieces!! Each dumpling is almost the size of two commercial frozen dumplings from the supermarket. Just throwing in some good lobangs for you guys!

We got the Shan Dong Fried Dumpling ($8), Wanton with Chilli Oil ($4) and Beijing Zha Jiang Mian ($4). Thanks to another colleague that tagged along for lunch, I got to try the Stewed Pork Rib Noodle ($4.50) too.

First up, we tried the Shan Dong Fried Dumpling or what we always refer to as 锅贴 (guo tie). It comes in three different serving sizes here. $5 for 12 pieces, $8 for 18 pieces and $10 for 24 pieces. It’s such a steal! Other places usually sell $5 for only 8 to 10 pieces. I got the $8 portion not knowing that they are so generous and ended up packing the rest of the dumplings back to the office.

The dumpling skin was not too thick, but it didn’t hold very well together. When we picked up a few of the dumplings, the skin broke and the little soup within flowed out. The guo tie here is cooked in half oil and half water according to the owners, and it’s a healthier option! Despite their unique cooking method, they have still managed to fry the whole dumpling evenly.

The chives were really fragrant (if you like chives), the meat filling a little juicy, and the minced meat didn’t just tear apart from the skin. Dip the plump parcels in vinegar and have some ginger to go with.

Wanton with Chilli Oil, or 红油抄手 (hong you chao shou) is another type of dumpling that we see commonly at Chinese stalls. They have two sizes for this dish as well, $4 for 10 pieces and $6 for 15 pieces. The dumplings were a little dry, with just enough chilli oil for one side of the wanton. I like that there were chunks of garlic scattered over. If you prefer to have your wanton drenched in chilli oil and vinegar, you might want to order the Wanton with Chilli Oil Noodles ($5) instead. Just be prepared to eat a whole lot of carbs at once!

The skin to filling ratio was almost a 7 to 3 — each wanton spread really wide. There was so much skin that it did a little flappy bird dance when I was bringing it to my mouth. The meat filling is different from the guo tie’s as they didn’t add chives to this.

The Beijing Zha Jiang Mian was a huge bowl of noodles. They were quite generous with the zha jiang meat sauce too. The sauce was just right and not too salty or sweet. Give the noodles a good toss to spread the sauce and cucumbers evenly.

Lastly, the Stewed Pork Ribs Noodles. This was rather underwhelming as there seemed to be a lot of MSG in both the soup and the meat, like the ones used for the Chinese BBQ (烧烤/串烧). It was definitely on the saltier side. The original taste of the soup must be quite mild as the flavours of the pork ribs had taken over, and were very pronounced. Perhaps the Mala Pork Ribs Noodles ($4.50) would have had a better soup base to complement the stewed pork ribs.

Even though they call themselves 传奇 拉面 刀削面, they actually don’t sell 刀削面. I think that they are still getting used to their new name and signboard as well because according to Google, they’re still called ‘Chuan Qee Ramen 傳奇拉麵 • 小籠包’.

All in all, I’d recommend that you try the dumplings here, whether is it in the form of a guo tie, shui jiao or hong you chao shou. It’s something that the couple really takes pride in, and it’s really not too bad. I’ll be back when I’m craving for a good plate of dumplings on a workday.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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