$15ish meal: Ten handmade dumplings for $14 at Amazing Dumplings 

Why go?

My version of a perfect girl dinner is eating dumplings until I’m full, and Amazing Dumplings makes that easy. Fengping Geng hand-rolls and pleats hundreds of northern Chinese jiaozi here each day, but what makes the menu interesting is how much of her own story is folded into them.

There are dumplings filled with pork and sour pickled cabbage, a combination Geng grew up eating for Lunar New Year, alongside less traditional versions inspired by dishes such as Kung Pao chicken and mapo tofu. Her cooking reaches across northern China, from the dumplings of the northeast to the broad, chewy noodles associated with Shaanxi in the northwest. Even the wrappers sometimes become a canvas: Geng naturally colors her dough with vegetables and has fashioned dumplings into everything from rainbows to an edible “Starry Night.”

Rainbow dumplings (right) and hot oil garlic noodles (left) (Photos by Fengping Geng)

What to order 

I’d start with the $14 Kung Pao chicken dumplings. Geng puts the familiar sweet, savory and chile-spiked flavors of Kung Pao chicken into a juicy filling tucked inside her hand-rolled wrappers.

For something more personal to Geng, order the $14 pork and sour pickled cabbage dumplings, a Lunar New Year combination from her childhood. Pork and fennel is another standout.

But this does not have to be a dumpling dinner. The homemade Hot Oil Noodles are arguably one of the best values on the menu: chewy noodles slicked with fragrant chile oil and vegetables, starting at $12.95 for the vegetable version. Add chicken and the bowl comes to $15.95.

Good to know before you go

Keep an eye out for Geng’s more elaborate dumplings: she colors dough with vegetables and has made everything from rainbow wrappers to an edible take on Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.”

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