PIONEER CUISINE: TAIWANESE DUMPLINGS, CABBAGE, AND BEEF NOODLE SOUP

One afternoon, Flushing Food moseyed on over to Pioneer Cuisine (我家食坊, or Wojiā Shífāng), the Taiwanese-run reincarnation of Flushing’s former My Home Sweet Dumplings:*

The interior provides a welcoming respite from hectic lunch spots back Downtown. Here, nine tables readily accommodate different group sizes.** Cool greens and yellows constitute the main décor theme here, in contrast to muted red seat covers:

We started off with scallion pancake for appetizers. A mere $2.50 yields your party a pie of eight slices. One juicy (read: chewy and sinfully oily) layer of four slices rests top of the other half.

We followed up the scallion pancakes with a heaping plate of sautéed cabbage ($7.95). The recipe here bursts with vinegar flavor, with just a hint of Sichuanese peppercorns (not visible in the dish). Fret not; the peppers are just for presentation.

For dumplings, we ordered seafood, pork and chives dumplings (10 for $6.25). Chinese chives (韭菜, pronounced jiǔcài in Mandarin, gau2coi3 in Cantonese, and allium tuberosum in some circles) look like the flatter—but significantly more robust-tasting—cousins of scallions.***

Aside from dumplings, Pioneer’s main attraction is undoubtedly the Taiwanese beef noodle soup (台式牛肉麵, niúròu miàn; technically, 红烧牛肉麵, or braised beef soup, for $7.95).**** The noodles are freshly-made, and the broth is out-of-this-world good. Pioneer Cuisine doesn’t skimp on beef, either. If you want to try something besides dumplings, beef noodle soup is your must-try:

May Flushing Food suggest: leaving with freshly-made-then-frozen dumplings to stock up your freezer at home. On a non-food note, feel free to drive to Pioneer Cuisine, because parking is a much easier task in this neck of the Flushing woods.

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*, **** http://www.yelp.com/biz/pioneer-cuisine-flushing
** One table seats two, two tables sit groups of up to eight, and six comfortably fit four.
*** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_tuberosum

Media credits: Esther W., Helen Y.
Gadget: Nikon® Coolpix™ AW110