Road Trip: Dean Sin World - Monterey Park (Los Angeles)

You remember the scene in Back to the Future? You know which one, right? Where Marty McFly and the Starlighters cover Johnny B Goode? If you're one of perhaps three people out there who've never scene the flick, you can find a poor YouTube facsimile here (the fun starts at about 1:25). There's a point where McFly takes the guitar solo(actually played by Tim May)  a bit too far and over-the-top(starting Chuck Berry and ending Eddie Van Halen....), leaving everyone stunned, not quite knowing what the heck just happened. I had such a moment recently. I was at work when one of my coworkers asked me about "Chinese dumplings"..... and off I went, talking about wrapper thickness, the folds, the slight pull and pillowiness of well made wrappers. Then there was the thing about not over-working the dough to the point it seizes..... Heck, I didn't even make it to the filling when I noticed that the poor guy stood, mouth agape, eyes rapidly blinking.... he'd been Jiaozi-sized! The silence was deafening, how do you break such uncomfortable silence (I swear, you could hear a fish fart....)? I managed a throat clearing "uumph" and crept away........ My friends know that I can really get on a roll and build up a good head of steam, and even though I try to reign myself in, sometimes it just comes bubbling to the surface. Oh well.......

I had first read about Dean Sin World on gastronomy, but I really didn't pay much heed. While walking from Giang Nan to Qing Dao Bread Food on Christmas Eve, the Missus and I passed a tiny shop that was full of folks. There was a woman rolling out dough in the little space by the window who cheerfully tried to wave us in. The Missus peered at the menu, and told me "man, it's really cheap here, and the food looks decent, let's check this place out on our next trip." A week later we made our way to this little strip mall. I parked and laughed when I saw the banner:

 

It was Dean Sin World! I couldn't make out the sign in the dark on Christmas Eve.

We arrived pretty early, and had a seat. Looking up at the menu, I could confirm that the prices were very inexpensive.

10 Shengjian Bao for $4.85? 10 Pork and vegetable Jiaozi for $4.25? Wow......

The two women working here were very friendly, and funny.... more on that later. The Jiaozi was the first to arrive:

 
These were quite good. The wrapper had a decent pull, and yet was tender and doughy. The portion size of the filling was excellent, a perfect bite. It was also moist and minced not ground, creating a very soft, but not mushy filling. As I mentioned in this post, the Missus loved the use of Savoy Cabbage in the place of the usual Napa Cabbage. Oooops, there I go again. Let me just say that perhaps I lack the vocabularial (I'm guessing there's such a word) dexterity to come up with something more colorful and enjoyable.... soooo how about... It was good, not quite in the league of Qing Dao Bread Food in our opinion, but good enough for the Missus to call Mom and needle Her  saying, "we found another one as good as yours." Yikes!! It was also good enough for us to return and buy 50 frozen, at a good price of $10.

The Xiao Long Bao was the next to arrive:

We didn't enjoy these as much. Though I'm not a big fan of over-worked thin wrappers, these were much too thick. Also there wasn't enough "soup" in the XLB for me. The flavor was also on the bland side.

Last to arrive were the Shengjian Bao, white and glistening. The woman who brought these out said something to the Missus which made Her laugh. She said, "these are the first of the day, it's going to be very good. Look how beautiful they are so white and perfect." When we were waiting for our frozen Jiaozi, the same woman brought out some SJB for a couple sitting on one of the tables and exclaimed, "look how beautiful, white, and shiny these are." So this is her usual shtick, and we were a bit charmed by it.

As for the SJB, in my opinion, these were the best I've had to date. It was mostly due to the dough, and how it was cooked.

As you can see, the bottom is nicely browned and crisp, the top has been cooked well, it is nice and fluffy. The textural contrast was excellent. The filling was a simple pork, and could have been perhaps a bit more "juicy". The Missus still prefers the filling from Food Cabin's version of SJB.

And yes, as you can see, these are "beautiful, white, and shiny." I'm looking forward to having this again, and perhaps some Niu Rou Mian on my next visit.... when I pick up my next batch of 100 frozen Jiaozi.

As we were waiting for our frozen Jiaozi to take home, one of the women asked the Missus where we were from. She told Her "San Diego". The woman told the Missus that her son"goes to College in San Diego", and pointing to several plastic sacks filled with bags of frozen Jiaozi, said, "that's all for him". The Missus mentioned how lucky he is that he is able to get good Jiaozi to eat. The woman laughed, shook her head, and said, "no, no, he takes them to San Diego and sells them to other students!" You gotta love it!

Dean Sin World
306 N Garfield Ave #2
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Open Daily - 930am - 9pm

Read Gastronomy's post on Dean Sin World here.

Comments

[kat]

great place you found!

[ed (from Yuma)]

Those dumplings look soo good.

[Carol]

Hey Kirk! Thank goodness I wasn't drinking coffee when I started to read this. (fish fart...hehehehe)

Everything looks fantastic!

[Sandy]

Can I put in an order for a bag of frozen dumplings? Seriously, I have got to take a road trip and bring the large cooler!

[Rosa]

I first read "Dean Sin" as "Deadly Sin"... o_O

I am thinking that this weekend will have to be reserved for a trip to the SGV for a dumpling raid.

[janfrederick]

When you said you laughed at the sign, I thought you were referring to "Dean Sin World--Hell" (cut off)

[kirbie]

This place has been on my list ever since I read gastronomer's post on it. I haven't gotten a chance to try it out yet, but after your review and hers, I'm going through my calendar to try to figure out how to fit it in my schedule.

[Faye]

Wow. The SJB looks AMAZING!! It breaks my heart when you do a review of a place this awesome (b/c it's not in SD!!). I think a bowl of beef noodle soup AND an order of the SJB would be THE best meal ever! Wonderful post...thanks!

[Gastronomer]

Hahaha! I can't believe Mrs. Lu's son sells dumplings to his college classmates. Hilarious! I wonder if he mother demands a kick back... Probably not, she's just too nice.

[caninecologne]

hi kirk - i've never had SJB, looks good though.

btw, funny story (loved the Back to the Future reference)!!!! I feel like that ALL THE TIME whenever I get into a discussion about music or food. i've learned to hide it and only out myself to fellow music/food geeks. I have to rein myself in with normal people. ha ha.

[Tammy]

hahaha! I would do the same thing if I was her kid! I have to make a trip to the Qing Dao Bread place and maybe stop here sometimes. Wanna do a dumpling road trip? I bet you the only people who can eat dumplings all day are us. LOL.

[foodhoe]

Great post, it's been a long long time since I last saw back to the future, gotta put it in my netflix queue... and dang, those dumplings sound good!

[Dennis]

The SJB looks worth a trip alone!

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - Yes, and the prices are really good.

Hi Ed - They are.....

Hi Carol - Yes, it's especially a good value.

Hi Sandy - We have a backpack cooler that we take with us on our Road Trips. These Jiaozi hold up real well. I'm quite sure about the SJB though.

Hi Jan - You know..... I didn't even think about that!

Hi Kirbie - A word about maximizing your trip in the area - Yungui Garden, Dean Sin World, Giang Nan, Qing Dao Bread Food, and Mama's Lu are all within a block. And I know I've missed a few... like Ding's...

Hi Faye - Well you've got to make that roat trip then.

Hi G - She is a gem..... so nice and funny! It also shows you what the "state of Jiaozi" is in San Diego.

Hi CC - LOL! I've really got to exercise restraint....

Hi Tammy - I think after just three stops, you and I would be the only one's standing. And those three stops are within a hundred yards of each other.

Hi FH - That's a classic scene!

Hi Dennis - It probably is.....

[Andy Sze]

wow... 50 for a $11 bucks. thats near frozen machine made dumpling.

[Kirk]

Hi andy - Actually, if you look at the sign on the wall - it's only $10. Which is what we were charged. Quite a bargain, huh?

[Su-Lin]

If somebody sold me jiaozi like this when I was in college, it would be all I'd ever eat! They look so good!

[Kirk]

Hi Su-Lin - I'd probably never make it to class..... I'd be recovering from a food coma daily! ;o)

[Will]

I was in the area this last week and went to this store twice because of your review. Also, because I love xiao long bao and sin jiang bao and they are hard to find here in Austin, TX.

The first time was on Wednesday and we had an order of both of the above and the "water dumplings."

The dumplings were okay. Not the same as my mom used to make. The filling was okay, and the skin was good, but a little thick.

The xiao long bao were very tasty. Not as soupy as I'd prefer, but the filling was good and the broth had good flavor.

The sin jiang bao were very good. Crunchy on the bottom and soft on top. The filling was substantial.

The proprietor gave us a baked meat bun to try. That was too try and the inside was not very good.

Went back on Friday and this time made a couple of bad choices. Had the beef noodles, the xia jian noodle and the sin jiang bao.

The baos were good. The beef noodles were okay - not very flavorful with just okay noodles. And the xia jian mien was disappointing. I like the Taiwanese style with the dark pork and cucumber topping. I didn't ask about the style when the waitress suggested it.

I think that the xiao long bao and sin jiang bao are worth it.

The owner spoke about the health code ratings. It was funny then how they had an A on Wednesday, but it was a B on Friday.

I'd go back for the bao again.