Shepherd's Purse Pancakes At Oriental Cuisine in San Jose

[Chandavkl]

Something I haven't seen before is the Pork Shepherd's Purse Pancakes at Oriental Cuisine in San Jose. (Oriental Cuisine is the name on the business card-its true name might be Oriental Gourmet Chinese Restaurant.) Address is 1646 S. DeAnza Bl., next to (not inside) the food court. They have Shepherd's Purse dumplings and wonton, but the pancake was particularly interesting. Basically it was a pocket shaped exactly like a letter sized envelope, complete with backside envelope folds, deep fried until crispy. (You can see from the poor resolution picture how the "flap" doesn't show any Shepherd's Purse filling.) Curious if something like this is available anywhere else.

[Melanie Wong]

I stopped there yesterday for lunch. Again, the place was completely empty at 1pm. Two take-out customers stopped by.

I had the stir-fried Shanghainese rice cakes with pork and shepherd's purse, shown here, $6.95,
http://twitpic.com/230hqy

A competent job with a good chewy texture to the rice cake ovals, decent knifework on the pork slivers, and a lot of shepherd's purse.

[SteveG]

Is this the restaurant with an actual Shanghainese section on the menu? If so, I think I had the exact same dish there 1-2 years ago. I thought it had a nice gentle flavor, but there was no wok-ha at all.

[Melanie Wong]

Not sure of the menu layout, just that nearly everything is shanghainese.

[Melanie Wong]

I did poke my head in the door yesterday (sunday) at about 5:45pm. No customers in the house. The cook said that they've been there for 3 1/2 years and specialize in Shanghai style. I picked up a take-out menu, which lists the dishes available for 3/$19.95. But then I headed a few doors down to get my Sogo Tofu fix.

[kc72]

What was inside? Looks sorta similar to something a relative picks up for family potlucks from Oakland Chinatown, but can't tell for sure from pic.

[Ruth Lafler]

Shepherd' purse, which is a green vegetable that's a member of the mustard family.

[Chandavkl]

Mixed with minced pork.

[Melanie Wong]

Wow, I hit that shopping center from time to time, and had not paid any attention to that other restaurant. The folded pancake sounds interesting, i only know the wontons so am of no help.

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Oriental Gourmet Chinese Restaurant
1646 S De Anza Blvd, San Jose, CA 95129

[Ruth Lafler]

Thanks, David! Melanie, I expect a full report soon.

[Chandavkl]

Forgot to mention that the pancake was very good. Given that I was actually in the area to visit Chinjin Eastern House, that's all I tried.