Speaking of Chinese Sandwiches

And I was speaking about them, here, just last week.

Another style of Chinese sandwich is the mantou, a northern-style stuffed steamed bun.  The word mantou itself has spread and been transformed through trade and conquest all over the Far and Near East, referring to both breads and dumplings.  There are types of dumplings known as mandoo in Korean, manti in Turkish (but it's that little, alternative i in Turkish Romanization, and the word is pronounced "mantuh"), manty in Uighur, monti in Armenian and mantu in Afghan.  In fact, though the word originated in China it has come to mean dumplings rather than bread just about everywhere else.

For several years there was a place in Tribeca, just west of Chinatown, specializing in mantou sandwiches (Province), which closed a while back.  They have now resurfaced in Midtown East (only yesterday), at 235 E 53rd (between 2nd & 3rd Ave.) as Mantao, with pretty much the same menu. Sandwiches, which are small, go for $3.95-4.50.  Among the stuffings are pork with pickled vegetables, short rib and kimchi, spicy pork, and, for the vegetarians in the crowd, shiitake & portobello.  You'll definitely need two of them to make a meal, but even better, have one sandwich and one of their pancake rolls ($5.95 for either shredded beef or curry chicken), meat rolled up in a chewy fried pancake.  Also available are salads and dumplings.

Incidentally, I also learned that you can get a lamb version of Xian jia mo, the sandwiches I wrote about last week, at a stall at the Golden Mall in Flushing.