Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing with the King: Bigsuda

Monday, October 21, 2024

Bigsuda

-Grubbing in Chicago
Noodles & Dumplings in Wicker Park

The couple behind one of Chicago's original ramen shops has opened a new spot across the street from Oiistar ramen bar. Chef Sunny Yim and his wife Kathy recently opened the doors to Bigsuda in Wicker Park. It's their ode to dumplings in the form of Korean Mandoo and Chinese Xiao Long Bao. The Yim’s were in part responsible for upping the city’s ramen game when Oiistar first opened back in December of 2012 so one can only hope they shape the city’s dumpling game in a similar way.

Recently Opened in Wicker park

The opening of Bigsuda was more than five years in the making according to an article in Block Club. They acquired the space at 1362 N Milwaukee in 2019 but the pandemic required them to put every ounce of energy into allowing Oiistar to live on. You would never call what happened during the pandemic a blessing but the delay allowed Chef Yim to further master his craft. Yim traveled to Asia to study dumplings and from there he took all that he learned and perfected his own versions. I admit I was surprised how good the soup dumplings at Bigsuda were. First off they’re about twice the size of your typical soup dumplings or Xiao Long Bao as they’re called back in their native of China, Shanghai specifically. Bigsuda's Kurobota pork soup dumplings passed the pick up test in that they bounced when dangled. You can see the liquid moving around inside. They also passed the taste test with a delicious mix of soupy umami punched pork that explodes in the mouth upon first bite.

Xiao Long Bao Soup Dumplings at Bigsuda

The Mandoo (Korean dumplings) at Bigsuda are also skillfully prepared and can come fried or steamed. We tried an order with pork and kimchi and another with shrimp and pork. The pan fried dumplings arrive as one thanks to a beautiful lattice laced skirt, a common thing with Japanese gyoza. Both versions were very tasty with the kimchi and pork packing some real nice spice. It’s just one visit but I’m ready to place the dumplings at Bigsuda among the best in town right now.

Fried Mandoo at Bigsuda

But they do more than just dumplings. The menu also features a section of rice and noodle dishes as well as a selection of tapas style treats titled “and more.” The latter is where the chef and his team branch out a bit and create menu items unique to Bigsuda. We started with a bowl of "Oiji" which is an invigorating cucumber salad made with sesame, garlic, brown rice vinegar and the Korean dried chili powder called Gochugaru. The “lamb gochu twigim” wasn’t what we expected in that I envisioned a stir fry but ended up with a few egg rolls stuffed with spicy lamb served with a basil and sesame yogurt sauce. You couldn’t really distinguish that the meat was lamb but it was still a tasty dish. We also enjoyed an order of the “crunch crunch shrimp” which are fried wonton stuffed with shrimp, water chestnut, shiitake mushrooms and served with sweet Asian chile sauce.

Appetizers at Bigsuda (click all pics to enhance)

The shrimp and egg fried rice was well made in terms of the flavor evoked from the wok. I prefer when the egg is mixed in with the rice when cooking but I also like when it’s fried and put on top as that allows the runny yolk to be mixed in. The noodles were the other item I was interested in trying as Oiistar helped change the city's ramen game back when it first opened. The “fiery stir champon” is right up my alley as I always enjoy a bowl of Champon Noodles when the chance arises. Champon is a regional dish native to Nagasaki Japan by way of China. Though there’s different versions in Japan and Korea and China the basis of Champon is made by frying pork, seafood, and vegetables with lard and adding a broth made with chicken and or pig. Ramen noodles made especially for champon are added and boiled in the broth with all of the other stuff making for one big pot of deliciousness. Bigsuda makes a spicy stir fried version with pork, shrimp, squid, napa and sesame plus noodles and a subtle amount of liquid. It was good but I wish the noodles were a bit thicker with more chew. The same can be said for an order Kung Pao Clam Spaghetti which features littleneck clams, chili pepper, scallion, cilantro mixed with spaghetti noodles. Overall I liked the dumplings slightly more than the noodles but everything was pretty damn good and I look forward to returning for some more.