Yay, Flushing! :)

Saturday afternoon, Zubair and I drove to Flushing for a late lunch/early dinner/our only meal of the day. We had a pretty exciting flat tire issue in the morning that resulted in visiting no less than four different car stations between Soho and Chelsea. Luckily, a solution was found in due time, and with rumbling tummies, we made our way to Flushing for a ton of food.

This was my first "official" trip out to Flushing without Kathryn, the human encyclopedia on Flushing. My past fooding trips in the area have been led by Kathryn...dumplings (steamed, fried, boiled), buns, dim sum, and lamb face salad...she has it all down! For this particular trip, I picked my favourite spots from places we had previously ventured.

Our first stop was at Corner 28, a street facing stand where you can order Peking Duck Buns by the piece...for only $1 each! This never fails to make me so very happy. I love how you can get one or two and not worry about committing to an entire duck.
And they're good too! VERY good. These particular buns were so plush and warm, not a single dry spot - they must have just finished steaming. Duck, scallions, and hoisin sauce to finish. We each wolfed our down in a minute and dashed over to...

...Xi'an Famous Foods, located in the basement of an un-airconditioned mall. Goodness, was it steamy in there! I was already dripping piles of sweat before before we found a seat inside the stand. We shared the Lamb Burger...

...served very spicy with plenty of cumin, stuffed into a hot griddled bun.

But the next item we had there was my favourite of the day, and quite possibly my single favourite dish in all of Flushing: Liang Pi Noodles ($3.50). The noodles, made from wheat starch are touch gelatin-esque, very slippery and served cold. Mixed with boiled bean sprouts and chunks of wheat gluten, the entire concoction is tossed in a fire-y, garlic-laced sauce. Ask for it extra-spicy ;) It's nothing short of incredible, especially on a muggy July day. We SUPER regretted not purchasing a few extra orders when we got hungry later in the night ^_^

We then proceeded to cool off with cups of Ginseng Tea, slightly sweetened.
Our third stop was at Nan Shing Dumpling House, famous home of xiao long bao, which Joe wrote about for SENY. We arrived at the restaurant just before 5pm, and though it was relatively full, there was luckily no wait. The waitress led us to a table near the xiao long bao makers, and we happily occupied ourselves watching the pretty mezmerizing repition of dumpling creation. The xiao long baos are so big that they only fit six to a standard steamer (where as most restaurants do eight to a steamer). The extra thin skin is a major, and crucial bonus.
We were pretty full after the xiao long baos, but there was just one more spot on our agenda, and one would been crazy to leave without it. "It" being, White Bear Dumpling. You'll want to order the #6, "wontons in hot oil."
Loook! Man, isn't that gorgous? A dozen wonton per order, $4.50. Hot oil (though it looks about ten million times spicier than it tastes) is poured atop the plate, topped with preserved vegetables and scallions. The wontons are boiled to order, and the hot skin just slips on your tongue, and savoury, juicy pork is packed tight just so. It's absolutely wonderful, and falls only second to Xi'an's liang pi noodles as my favourite Flushing dish.

And last but not least, a pause in at Yi Mei Fung Bakery Corp. One cup of milk tea boba for the ride home :)

Happy Monday!

Corner 28
40-28 Main Street
Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 886-6628

Xi'an Famous Foods
1-28 Main St, Basement #36
Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 885-7788

Nan Xiang Dumpling House
38-12 Prince St.
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 321-3838

White Bear Dumpling
135-02 Roosevelt Avenue #5
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 961-2322

Yi Mei Fung Bakery Corp
135-38 Roosevelt Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 886-6820