A feast from Flushing

I was dropped off from a ski trip (during which I did not ski, but instead consumed large amounts of beer and vodka) in Flushing around noon. I called up SYB to see if the trains were running normally, who then insisted that I pick up food from around the area and go over to his place. Seizing an excuse to indulge, I went off in search of a vendor who had originally occupied a space in the hidden food grotto of J & L Mall, which had closed several months back due to the owner's failure to pay the electricity bill.

My dad told me that the vendor had opened an entire new shop for himself—now called Shen Jing restaurant—and was serving his steamed buns, da bing, and sesame bing a few blocks away from the Flushing Library. I stopped in and ordered a da bing, three sesame bings, and two lamb-filled steamed buns. On the way back to the train station, I also picked up some cheung fun (shrimp-filled and yuo tiao–filled) from Mayflower Bakery, and some bok choy.

At SYB's place, in an effort to fool myself into thinking I was about to consume a healthy meal, I steamed some bok choy and drizzled it with a bit of soy sauce to go along with the assortment I had picked up.

The multi-layered sesame bings were amazing, as always. I fell in love with these after my first bite when I was introduced to them about a year ago. They're fragrant with sesame and flaky, tender, and crisp-edged all at once. They're good at room temp but become absolutely delicious warm. I'm pretty sure there's a big glop of lard somewhere in the ingredient list for these. And there's this unique salty, sandy texture I've been trying to figure out. O sesame bings, you are mysterious.

The yuo-tiao cheung fun held up pretty well even after the forty minute subway ride.

I meant to get the fluffy, raised version of this pancake, but this was fine. Basically a scallion pancake without scallions. A little tough, but they also probably suffered from sitting in a plastic bag for a while during transit.

Sadly, these lamb buns were mediocre at best: much too stingy with the filling, and way too much bland dough. I don't feel any need to order these again another time.

I felt awfully sluggish afterward, despite trying to match bok choy for bun and bing while eating. Clearly, only one of the three b's was good for me.