Culinary Comforts: Shanghainese Duck to Dumplings
New World Mall is filled with a mosaic of flavors where every dish tells a story. Yozi stands as a beacon of Shanghainese cuisine, for some a new experience for others a cure to homesickness.
Written by Kelsi Lo
The smell of beef broth, ramen, and boba floats in the air as diners enjoy potstickers, soup dumplings, popcorn chicken and fruit tea. New World Mall’s food court in Flushing, New York has samples of Korean, Thai, Taiwanese, but primarily Chinese restaurants, and is a culinary comfort for many East Asian descendants.Â
As one rides down the escalators surrounded by different Asian dialects and cuisine to the left-hand side is stand 20, the original Yozi, with now 5 locations throughout New York City. The menu is full of Shanghainese delights taking influence from neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Amongst the busy food court, at the desk of Yozi, the clerk shouts dish names back into the kitchen, notifying the chefs. Then they turn towards the hungry customers, yelling order numbers in Chinese and placing orange trays on the counter with spoons and chopsticks for when the order is ready to serve (no, there are no forks).
The Assorted Duck Vermicelli Noodle Soup ($11.99) is served in an orange bowl holding white duck broth, duck meat, gizzard, liver, fried tofu, cilantro, bok choy, and (noodles). The pearl-colored duck broth is savory with the gamey taste of duck (imagine duck-flavored sea water). The duck liver is slimy, like pudding, with a hearty flavor. The Duck gizzard shares the same flavors as the liver but is friable, almost sandy, with a heavier and metallic taste. The gizzard and the liver are not for everyone but is a once-in-a-lifetime experience worth trying. The duck meat was rough on the edges and tender in the middle, resembling the texture of chicken. Alongside the duck float golden sponges: fried tofu. The name is misleading since the tofu is soft and squishy, pouring out the broth it has absorbed, in no way brittle and rough like traditional fried foods. Under the tofu hides transparent vermicelli noodles. They are long, chewy, and slippery (may be challenging for chopstick novices).
Next to the bowl is a plate of potstickers ($6.50), laying flat on their backs with their crisp golden dumpling skin facing upwards as if they had spent a day tanning under the sun. Inside the potsticker, a mixture of pork, cabbage and leek. The black vinegar served on the side gives the piquant potstickers a balance of acidity combined to make a refreshing delight.Â
Similar to the potsticker but unique: the pork soup dumpling ($6.50) contains the same filling but in a different package. The soup dumpling has a thin skin, making the shape of a Hershey. Inside the pouch is a rich broth complimented by the pork filling. Traditionally, people use chopsticks to pick up the top of the dumpling and place it on a spoon, making it easier for them to slurp the broth out.Â
The Chinese Leek is a street food in both Taiwan and China. The brown bun secures inside the main character, Leek, along with supporting characters, onion, chopped vermicelli noodles, egg, pepper, salt, and hints of garlic.
Food is a comfort shared by cultures all over the world. Restaurants like Yozi serve Asian Americans a cure for homesickness and those not of Asian descent a new experience. However if you don’t speak Chinese or Cantonese it’s best to bring a friend who does.Â