Moving on to another Costco entry, Bibigo Pork and Vegetable Steamed Dumplings. As a long time lover of the classic Ling Ling potstickers commonly found at Costco, I was excited to try these little morsels. I hoped they would provide the same deliciousness of the gyoza, without the disgusting tasting burps that accompany them, giving them the moniker of “Potstinkers.”
The box from Costco contained 6 individual shrink-wrapped trays, each containing 6 dumplings. The calorie count for one tray was 240, so my light lunch consisted of 2 trays.
The process for preparing these dumplings was very simple, as long as you don’t impatiently rip open the plastic steam package. Although the wording on these specially designed plastic bags says “start here” at the perforated corner, you actually want to start by microwaving the damn things. I put a bag-wrapped tray in the microwave for two minutes, removed and tore the thing open. Asian-style frozen food, much like Asian-style toilets, really think through the details. There were individual dumpling depressions molded into the tray, with little sauce reservoirs for the soy-based sauce. The reservoirs were marked: “Sauce Here” and featured little openings for the sauce to trickled down into each individual dumpling depression. Really have to tip my cap to the food packaging engineer here, a true labor of love.
Upon first bite, I was greeted with the familiar taste of Ling Ling potstickers. The pork and vegetable filling was almost identical, but I’m not complaining. The sauce was not quite as nice as Ling Ling’s but still solid. The texture of the dumplings, however, was far superior to potstickers. The steaming process created an incredibly tender and consistent dumplings. I devoured the 6th dumpling before I tasted the first one. I also appreciated the size of the dumplings, each a perfect mouthful.
The ease of preparing these things was incredible. Taste was good, but I think i might need to add something spicy to the mix next time. As long as these stay as a snack or side dish, I certainly recommend these dumplings. I also did not experience nasty burps following my meal, so feel free to eat these at work.
3.75/5