Review: P.F. Chang's Home Shrimp and Seafood Dumplings

Ratings: 6/10 overall

Making dumplings from scratch is an all afternoon task for C and I.  So we have only done it half a dozen times and almost exclusively on the weekend.  However, I have never tried to make the chives and eggs dumplings that my mom makes and the only version I thought C and I can eat due to lent.

I was very happy to see this product none-the-less because C and I were just talking about how awesome a seafood version of dumplings would be.  Now, I have never tried the P.F. Chang's dumplings (in restaurant or frozen).  I have, however, tried a wide range of other brands.  My favorite (read as best) brand is Wei-Chuan's 水饺王.  Wei-Chuan has another version but they are not as good.  This version always comes in bags of this design, though the color differs based upon the flavor.  For the price I paid for P.F. Chang's, I got only 14 dumplings.  Roughly the same price I could have gotten more from Wei-Chuan.

To cook the dumplings, I boiling it.  Frying it in oil is nice (potstickers), but I wanted to keep it healthy.  It passed the first test, the wrapper stayed intact.  Brands like Ling Ling has a tendency to fall apart when boiled despite having wraps that are too thick.  The second test on taste was not bad.  I would give it a 6 out of 10 when compared to what we can make from scratch.  For a mass produced product, I would give it a 7.3 out of 10.  One of the big things that made the product bad for me is the kind of weird feeling I had in my stomach after eating it.  It was not quite nauseous, but it was unpleasant.  I suspect it might have been the sauce because C seemed fine.

Cooking notes: I used a little more than 2 quarts of water, 3 was excessive.  I checked the dumplings at 6 minutes, but it was not even cooked.  So I kept it in there for another 3 minutes (9 total) and it seemed better.  Plus the dumplings did not taste overcooked at all.  Though the instructions are accurate on the importance of not overcooking.