Prosperity Dumplings Review: Prosperity Dumplings
There are a few things that as good as getting five dumplings for a dollar. Most of those things are NC-17 so we’ll not go there. The king of these “dollar dumpling” places used to be Vanessa’s. They get the most business, and the dumplings are always fresh. A year ago they expanded their operation and raised the price by a dumpling. Now it’s four dumplings for a dollar there. Still a great deal, but if you just walk down Eldrige street for two blocks, you’ll find that Prosperity Dumplings is still going strong as one of the better dollar dumpling places in Manhattan.
One thing that always gives me pause is how these places are able to make any money at all. If each dumpling comes out to $0.20, what exactly is the profit margin? It can’t be more than a few cents a piece. I don’t spend too much time straining myself to figure out the answer to that however. It’s much more conducive to spend time just eating the dumplings.
I think the prime times to go to Prosperity Dumplings is between noon and maybe 6pm, and on weekdays only. Prosperity Dumpling is actually across the street from a school, and when a lot of students visit the dumpling shop, the turnover is fast, and the dumplings are fresh. Nothing beats fresh pan-fried dumplings.
They cook the dumplings much the same way as at Vanessa’s. The vessel they use is this round cast iron pot. They coat the bottom with some oil, line it up full of dumplings, and then just let that thing work its magic. The bottom of the dumplings get crunchy, although sometimes they are not consistently good at getting it crunchy. I go often enough not to really care about the few times when it’s not perfect. If you only go once and are disappointed, well maybe dollar dumplings are not your thing. They are mine, that’s for damn sure.
One of the things that Prosperity does kind of is sketch. They let the customers put Sriracha on the dumplings. But the thing is, they water down the hot sauce. It’s usually a very watery concoction. It’s still spicy, but just tame compared to regular Sriracha. Maybe you don’t like hot sauce and this doesn’t apply to you.
Over the years, I’ve seen enough dumplings to kind of figure out that if you want pan fried dumplings, always make sure they’re making their own wrappers from scratch. It’s not enough that they make their own dumplings. I actually went to some random place on Eldridge street, and they had pan fried dumplings with store bought wrappers. They were thin and the crust was not the same at all. Boiled dumplings? Those are a different story… thin wrappers are the way to go there. But if you go get pan fried dumplings, you want the thicker dumpling wrappers that lends itself to better crunch after frying.
Lastly, if anyone’s wondering whether you can make it down here within an hour lunch break? The answer is yes. Take the B/D down to Grand street, and walk down Eldridge until you hit Prosperity Dumplings. They’re across the street from some fenced in hand-ball courts. You even have time to buy fruit on the way back to make it a balanced meal.
Prosperity Dumplings46 Eldridge St.New York, NY 10002212-343-0683
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