Sahan Journal staffers Katrina Pross, Cynthia Tu, Gabriel Kwan and Dymanh Chhoun are at the Minnesota State Fair on opening day to review new foods from immigrant and BIPOC vendors.
There are nine official new vendors at the fair this year, including Saturday Dumpling Co. and Jive Turkey BBQ. There are 36 official new foods, including Union Hmong Kitchen’s Hmong corndog and El Burrito Mercado’s Tacos de Mole.
Follow along throughout the day for Sahan’s reviews of the dishes.
A full list of the fair’s new foods and vendors can be found here.
Union Hmong Kitchen: Hmong corndog
Union Hmong Kitchen, run by chef Yia Vang, often debuts a new food at the fair. This year’s creation is a collaboration between Vang and Kramarczuk’s Sausage Co.
The Hmong corndog is a pork sausage flavored with ginger, garlic, fish sauce, chili and lemongrass, dipped in a cornmeal batter and fried. It comes with a citrus Kua Txob sauce.
“If I knew [the Hmong corndog] is going to be at the State Fair, I’ll come back every year!” Gabe said. He appreciated the lemongrass flavor that came out right out the gate as he took the first bite. The herbal taste of the sausage is a nice balance of flavor and aroma. The spicy Kua Txob sauce also provided a good pairing with the corndog.
Dymanh, on the other hand, thought the Kua Txob sauce lacked authenticity. “The sauce doesn’t look good compared to the ones I see at the Hmong markets,” he said, finding it too thick.
- Review: 3.6 of 5 stars
- Location: International Bazaar, south wall, west corner
- Cost: $16
Saturday Dumpling Co.
Saturday Dumpling Co. is new to the State Fair this year, and is owned by a husband-and-wife duo Peter Bian and Linda Cao. The business began selling small batches of frozen dumplings and has expanded into three locations across Minneapolis.
The Chinese sausage and provolone poppers, at $10 come in a set of five, and are paired with a glossy sweet and sour sauce. The team was pleasantly surprised with the amount of cheese in the popper, although they didn’t taste much of the sausage. The flakiness of the crust, the balance of seasoning, and the freshness of the poppers themselves were unanimously well-received.
“I can eat 10 more,” Dymanh said.
If the poppers are endlessly eatable, however, ube cream cheese wontons are the heavy hitters. Cynthia remarked on how many flavors there are.
“My taste buds are a little confused here,” she said. “There’s so much going on.”
Katrina liked the vibrant colors of the ube and the biscoff dusting on top. But she said she could only eat one.
“If I bought these for my kids,” Dymanh said, “I would tell them to save it for dessert.”
After the poppers and wontons, Katrina said she was feeling parched, and was looking forward to the yuzuade. And it delivered.
“It’s not too sweet,” she said. “Very refreshing on a hot day at the Fair.”
- Review:
- Chinese Sausage and Cheese Poppers: 4 stars
- Ube Cheesecake Wontons: 3.5 stars
- Salted Mango Yuzuade: 3.6 stars.
- Location: Food Building, east wall
- Cost: Chinese Sausage and Cheese Poppers: $10; Ube Cheesecake Wontons: $10; Salted Mango Yuzuade: $8.
Afro Deli: Peri-Peri Bowl
Afro Deli’s Peri-Peri Bowl consists of two beef sambusas, fried peri-peri spiced chicken, and plantains, served with basbaas, a spicy green chili sauce.
Dymanh and Gabe found the sambusa filling a bit dry. But they liked the overall flavor.
“It tastes like taco meat,” Dymanh said.
“There are some herbs in there, but they’re not coming out as strongly as I would like,” Gabe said of the filling.
Cynthia said the basbaas sauce had an authentic level of spice.
“It’s not a Minnesota-level spice,” she said.
As far as the peri-peri chicken, Katrina thought it wasn’t as crispy as she would have liked.
The per-peri sauce reminded Dymanh of a buffalo sauce, which he didn’t expect.
“I wanted to experience something different,” he said.
For the plantains, Sahan staffers liked the taste, but it didn’t stand out.
“I like it for what it is, and it’s a plantain,” Gabe said.
- Review: 2.5 of 5 stars
- Location: Food Building, east wall
- Cost: $15
