by photographer and food blogger donny tsang

Momos, a type of Tibetan, Nepali, and Himalayan dumpling, don't get as much love as other meaty balls wrapped in dough. While Chinese fried dumplings rule Manhattan Chinatown ($1 for four or five), it is the momo that reigns supreme in Jackson Heights, Queens. Just from looking at momos, one might mistake them for soup dumplings. Momos, based on the ones I ate, are much denser than the Chinese dumpling. The meat is really jam packed into the dough and the dough is much thicker.

Right outside the Jackson Heights - Roosevelt Ave. stop on the 7, E, F, M, and R train, you will find two momo carts, the Potala Fresh Momo cart and the A & G Himalayan Fresh Food cart. Both carts serve momos and both carts sell eight delicious momos for $5, but that's where the similarities end.

The momos from Potala Fresh Momo have a real strong beefy taste. There were squirt bottles of red chili sauce and soy sauce.

As for the momos from A & G Himalayan Fresh Food, they had a nice hint of floral in the meat and a bit of juice came out. The guy in the cart made sure I used some of the chili sauce, but be careful with the chili sauce. This was about 10 times spicier than your regular Sriracha but it was mighty good.

-DONNY TSANG

this post is part of the dumpling a day while i'm away guest blogger series. i'm in hong kong right now so i've gotten some awesome bloggers, photographers, and writers, to showcase delicious dumplings. if you're interested in being a dumpling guest blogger, send me a note at yeh.molly@gmail.com. yay!