Dumplings of all insides

As the first destination of my week of eating, I choose a place that will be both familiar and new: a dumpling house. The specific place, Bao Yuan Jiaozi Wu, has been recommended both by Candice and by Beijing Eats. It is the "non-traditional" dumpling house, with outrageous fillings and colored wrappers.

I go there, get a table, and am immediately overwhelmed by the menus. Yes, menus. A large red book details the 50+ kinds of dumplings I could get, full of pictures and poor English translations. The larger black book presents an array of dishes that are too much to contemplate. I put it aside, focusing all of my energy on the book of dumplings.

I settle on a starter quickly, cold sautéed greens with almonds in chilli oil. These are snappy, refreshing, and delicious. I quickly hoover up the whole little plate. The almonds, in particular, are a nice touch, adding a milky, nutty element to the flavor.

And, at last, I settle on four different kinds of dumplings. I order them, and receive, well, the above picture in return. Oh no! They are all together! What to do, how will I know what I am eating? Quick thinking and...

...thanks to their translucence, I can separate them into four piles (a handful made it into my belly before they could reach a pile). And, after some dissection and some tasting, I think we have, clockwise from upper left: Minced Pork Purple Seaweed Leek Vermicelli Egg, Sautéed Fungus with Yam, Pork with Lotus Root, and smoked pork leek smoked DouFu (all caps sic). Somehow, in a place famous for making various colored wrappers (I definitely saw purple and green on other diners' plates) I had picked ones that all came plain. No matter. My favorites were the two final pork dumplings. The pork with lotus root had great textural contrast and I think the nuttiness of the lotus root brought a balance to the pork and the dumpling skin. The smoking of both the pork and the "DouFu" (tofu) lent an aromatic burst of flavor to each of these dumplings. The fungus dumpling managed to be muted and bland, and the mixture of so many ingredients was just ok, though the vermicelli noodle texture was a nice touch.