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You can call ’em pan-fried dumplings or you can call ’em potstickers or you can call ’em jiaozi or you can call ’em gyoza – just as long as you call for an order of #1 Signature Pork with Yellow Chive from Sanmiwago, the Taiwanese dumpling house ensconced in booth 3 at Mott Street Eatery, 96 Mott Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Eight to an order, they’re properly crispy on one side, tender and yielding on the other, thin-skinned and plentifully stuffed with a perfectly seasoned filling.

Obviously, I found them to be top notch and reason enough to return and work my way through the other five varieties; all six are available in either fried or boiled versions. My understanding is that the owner hails from Taiwan and has been serving these dumplings there since 1993 – and now we’re fortunate enough to get a taste of the real deal.

While I was there, I also picked up an order of Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken. Because popcorn chicken.

And yes, of course, these dumplings will be a feature on my Manhattan Chinatown ethnojunket resuming soon!

(You can read about my ethnojunkets and join in the fun here!)