Qing Hua
1767 avenue Lincoln
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7 out of 10

There's just really nothing else that comes close to Qing Hua. So you can either go here, or try to make your own dumplings that squirt juice all over you. Probably best to go here first, to see what you have to live up to, before you try this at home, like I did. Or just keep going here. I mean, come on, they have frozen take-out.

Sure, there are lots of dim sum and other Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese restaurants in Montreal that wrap meat or vegetables in dough (thick, thin, made of rice or wheat) and steam or fry them (har gao, gyoza), but this place is a large cut above. Where else can you peek into the kitchen to watch the magic hands of the cooks rolling out home-made dough wrappers, stuffing them with fillings, and shaping them into beautifully twisted bundles?
What makes this place special is what it does and doesn't do. It doesn't do dim sum. It doesn't do Japanese, or Korean, or Vietnamese cuisine. Their dumplings are not wontons (though those are on the menu). These are not Tibetan momos. These are not steamed Xiaolong bao buns, like the ones with curry beef or BBQ pork. What Qing Hua does best are authentic Dalian jiaozi.

Two questions:
1. Where's Dalian? It's a coastal city in Liaoning Province in Northeast China, about halfway between Beijing and North Korea.

2. What makes Qing Hua's Dalian dumplings special? The fresh ingredients, the fatty and deliciously juicy meats, the varieties, and the thick dough. This place has received a lot of well-deserved buzz already but if you haven't yet heard of this hidden gem near Guy-Concordia where you just have to try the lamb and coriander steamed dumplings or the boiled pork and cabbage ones, let me simply tell you that the dumplings are all really good. You kind of can't go wrong when you order. Moving on...

What makes this place interesting is that the dumplings are home-made (no frozen, grocery-store varieties), there's apparently no added MSG, and you actually have to wait for your meal like the patient person that you are since those cooks that you peeped in on through a little window into the kitchen are hand-making your dumplings to-order.
The dumplings here are inappropriately called "soup-dumplings". Yes, they burst with liquid when you bite into them, (which is both hilarious and disastrous) but real "soup-dumplings" are made by adding gelatinized soup to the filling, so that when the dumplings are steamed the soup liquefies. Gelatinized soup...tasty...but that's a Shanghai trick and this is Dalian. Lamb and pork have some fatty cuts of meat, and when they're as tender as they are in these dumplings, the juices would definitely squirt out without gelatinous assistance. The non-pork and lamb fillings aren't quite as projectile, but they probably have some liquids added, like soy sauce, rice wine or sesame oil to make them moist. Any other theories?

This is definitely a dumpling-focused restaurant, but the other options can hold their own.

Like the mackerel ball soup.
No really, it's good. Mackerel and green onion balls doused in lemon (to get rid of the fishy taste) cooked in home-made broth. Also try any kind of dish that involves the words "shank", "shoulder", "tongue" or "bone-in" in reference to animal parts. All the flavour from the meat adds to the broth or sauce (in the same way it makes the dumplings soupy). Soup is very much a meal when it comes with a book-sized hunk of meat in it. Of course, anything with noodles will also be good, since those are made fresh as well. Basically if you're vegetarian, there are still lots of delicious dishes for you to try, like the cabbage and carrot salad with sesame oil, or the mushroom and cabbage dumplings, but the real appeal of this dumpling house is for carnivores. Skip the over-priced steakhouse with its over-cooked filet mignon and come here. You can get 16 dumplings (discount on take-out) for $8-$14. Or buy some of the dumplings frozen at half the cost. You have to buy them in quantities of 30, apparently, but you won't have any trouble eating them. Besides, they're frozen. They'll keep.
The only disappointing points of the meal were the complimentary miso soup and salad that came at the beginning...The bean sprouts were way too sweet and the miso was not great quality. This can definitely be forgiven because the restaurant obviously spent so much more time, money and effort on making amazing dumplings with good-quality ingredients, and it's a nice thought to try to provide something to snack on before the dumplings arrive since so many people complained about actually having to wait for their food when this place first opened. Geez, try making polite conversation with your dining companion...or read a book, maybe it will open your mind to being more considerate. Lamb doesn't grind itself, wrap itself with chopped coriander in dough that's been kneaded, stretched and rolled, and stick itself in an appropriately-clothes-pinned steamer basket (to identity the different types of dumplings, since they're all wrapped the same), then deliver itself to your table hot, fresh and perfectly-cooked.

Expect To Pay: $15-$25 to be absolutely stuffed

Hours: 11am to 11pm everyday!
(438) 288-5366
Credit cards and interac not accepted! Cash only!

OR!

Make your own dumplings.
You can make dumpling wrappers from scratch with 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 cup of lukewarm water (mix together the dry ingredients, add the water and combine. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then let it sit for 20-30 covered in plastic wrap. Cut the dough into three pieces, then each piece into 8, and roll out each of the 24 pieces to 4-inch diametre circles. Cover the pieces with plastic wrap until you're ready to fill them) or you can buy pre-made dumpling or wonton wrappers. Even if they're square wrappers, they'll work fine as long as you don't over-stuff them. Wings, in Chinatown, will sell you a half kilo for dirt cheap. You probably don't want to know all the things that aren't flour, salt, baking soda and water that are in them, but they taste good and they'll turn dumpling-making into a quick and easy meal. You can also make the wrappers from scratch and freeze them. Coat them in cornstarch so they don't stick together.

Lamb and Coriander filling:
1 lb ground lamb (or a boneless piece of lamb coarsely chopped by hand or in a food processor)
1 cup green onions, coarsely chopped
3/4 cups coriander, chopped
1 teaspoon chili paste, optional
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mushroom and cabbage filling:
4 cups diced mushrooms (shiitake, portobello, brown cremini)
1/3 of a large Chinese cabbage, washed, well-drained (excess water will make your dumplings explode when you steam them), and finely diced
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions:
1. Combine the ingredients for your filling of choice in a large bowl and place one teaspoon of it on each dumpling wrapper. Moisten all the way around the edge of the wrapper with water by dipping your finger in a small bowl of warm water and then tracing along the edge. Pull the edges of the wrappers together at the top, pinch the gathered edges together, and twist to seal the dumplings.

2-1. To boil the dumplings, bring a large pot of water or broth to a boil, put in the dumplings (you may need to work in batches) and when the liquid returns to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 8-9 minutes, or until the meat changes to a cooked, brown colour. For the mushroom dumplings, simmer until the cabbage and mushrooms have softened, about the same length of time).

2-2. To steam, place the dumplings in a steamer basket above a large pot or wok of boiling water. Cover it tightly and cook for 12-15 minutes. Again, the lamb is done when it has changed colour, and the cabbage and mushrooms are done when they have softened.

3. Serve the dumplings like at Qing Hua with little dishes of black vinegar, soy sauce (or tamari) and hot chili paste mixed to taste.

With the leftover dumpling-infused water or stock if you boiled them, or just stock if you steamed them (the water would probably be pretty bland in this case), you can make a quick noodle soup to finish the meal. While you eat your dumplings, throw some noodles (wheat, rice, egg noodles) into the broth and let them soften. Then you can slurp up the tasty broth along with the filling noodles. Congratulations, you've just eaten a whole lot of dough. You probably should sit down for awhile.