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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 Dumplings
46 Eldridge St.
New York, NY 10002
212-343-0683
Map
Sign up to the feed and never miss a post!Posted by Danny on July 13 2009 at 9:53 am
I'm going to NYC in November - so this just got bookmarked! Thanks! ;)
Christie @Fig&Cherry on July 13 2009 at 11:12 am
Sounds yummy! I think profit margin is high because of turnover and the quickness with which they make the stuff?
Hey, how can you tell if it's homemade wrappers or not? I thought they were homemade at Lan Zhou (tasted like it to me) but someone came by my site and posted that they are not. Curious.
Yvo on July 13 2009 at 12:59 pm
@Christie,
Cool, I hope you like it!
@Yvo,
You're probably right about the turnover thing. I mean, the shop looks like it's been around for a while, so I'm sure they do ok. The margins are probably slim but hey, with high volume, who cares?! I think machine made wrappers are all really really think. They'll be like wonton wrappers. Unless they really take their time, there's no way to hand make super thin wrappers. When you go to Vanessa's you can see how they do it. They have cut up these little chunks of dough that gets rolled out real fast, and then they spoon in the filling. I guess you could take homemade dough and run it through a pasta maker but that takes too long for places with high volume.
Danny on July 13 2009 at 2:26 pm
That's pretty sketch about the watering down of the Sriracha. I read that article in the Post today about bars watering down their liquor, which is awful but price-wise I can understand. But Sriracha? Really? How much money could that save? Unless they're trying to save the palates of people who can't handle hot sauce? Weird either way...
You should totally come out to our food blogger potluck in central park on the 25th. The details are on my blog. It should be fun! (And hopefully sunny.)
alejandra on July 13 2009 at 3:09 pm
Those dumps look so good! Yummm...
Melissa on July 13 2009 at 4:39 pm
First pic is great. It looks like the dumpling on the left is trying to escape. HALP!
bionicgrrrl on July 14 2009 at 12:29 am
I'm just sad that the one on Allen St closed due because the landlord took the land back.
kim on July 14 2009 at 8:21 am
@alejandra,
Yea that watering down thing is weird... I guess they are struggling for profit margins if they're doing that for cost reasons... but maybe it's because people can't handle it? The food blogger potluck sounds interesting, I have to see if I'm in the city that week though. Thanks for the invite!
@Melissa,
They are soooo good!
@bionicgrrrl,
The dumplings can't escape me. My stomach shall rule them all.
@kim,
Ah, poo. I never go to try the one on Allen street :(
Danny on July 14 2009 at 9:25 am
My favorite dumpling shop in Chinatown! I'm a fan of crunchy dumpling edges, but Vanessa's dumplings are just a bit too clunky for my tastes. I feel like Prosperity hits that perfect pitch between thin crust and juicy filling.
James on July 14 2009 at 1:07 pm
Oh yum those look delicious! I long for a quick, convenient dumpling shop. But that would require moving a good 500 miles or so...
Aubrey on July 15 2009 at 8:52 am
yummy thanks for posting this, i will have to try this!
Marcia on July 16 2009 at 9:48 am
most all of the dumpling places water down the cock sauce, but for some reason, i'm all for it. it makes my dumpling experience that much better. fried dumpling on allen did it and i'm pretty sure vanessas does it too. i don't think they just water it down though, i think they might add something in that thins it out.
Noah on July 28 2009 at 10:27 am
@Noah,
I've actually seen them just put the bottles under the faucet. They might add stuff to it before or after to thin it out... but there's definitely some water in there.
Danny on July 28 2009 at 12:22 pm
i finally went here last week after reading about them and they were so good! thanks for your post and inspiring me. i will definitely need to come much more often.
laura on October 26 2009 at 9:59 pm