Once upon a time, I moved to a magical land known as Australia. In that magical place, I ate Chinese pan fried pork dumplings and homemade Asian fried noodles. In every major city I visited, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, I was able to find a similar dumpling and noodle shop, and it made my heart so very happy. Then I moved back to Chicago. There were no dumplings or homemade noodles to be had. Many a night, I cried myself to sleep. I even took a stab at making some myself, which were good, but just not the same. I had heard fables of a Chinese dumpling and noodle shop near Chicago on various Internet food forums, but it was in a dreaded place we city folks call “The Burbs”. Just the word alone makes me shudder! As legend goes, a trip into “The Burbs” will instantly infect you with a lower paying job, a house with a white picket fence, 2.5 children and absolutely no social life for the next ten years. Except for the occasional parent or doctor’s, I try to avoid it like the plague. But then my hunger got the best of me. I caved. Meet Katy’s Dumplings (or K’s Dumplings, depending on which sign you see first).
Only a small portion of the menu was actually translated into English, but I had already checked out the full menu translated online thanks to fellow Chicago foodies here. I walked into a tiny restaurant that had this sitting on each table:
A bottle of soy sauce, a bottle of Chinese black vinegar (in a soy sauce bottle), and a container of chili oil. Together, these bad boys make the most delicious dumpling sauce you will ever taste in your life. Unless you live in Adelaide, South Australia, or another place that has a dumpling restaurant that puts caramelized onions into their chili oils. Then you are really in business! My mate and I ordered a quick lunch of fried handmade noodles with chicken ($6.95 USD) and pan fried pork dumplings ($4.95 USD for 8).
If you look closely, you can see these thick noodles have kinks in them that factory-made noodles never seem to get, and it is a sure sign of delicious, handmade goodness.
First, I love how they place the dumplings crispy side up, so the steam from the dumplings doesn’t make them soggy. So thoughtful. Second, although these are not xiao long bao, or soup dumplings, they are still chockful of delicious pork broth that spits across the table and hits your dining mate if you aren’t careful. You will burn your mouth, and you will love it. Trust me. These are as good a dumpling as I have ever had. So good, I came back on Valentine’s Day with the husband. It is probably a good thing this place is so far away from my home…I need the physical barrier to prevent me from eating these things every day! For a lunch for two, we barely broke $12 USD. Sigh. I can die happy knowing my dumpling fix can be met, albeit with a bit of driving. Thank you, world! ~LTG! *********************************************************** Katy’s Dumplings 665 N. Cass Avenue Westmont, IL 60559 (630) 323-9393
