Business of the Week: Eton

“I just put one and one together and that’s how we got shave ice and dumplings.”

It’s not quite the formula one might expect, but the combination of shave ice and dumplings has quickly made Eton at 205 Sackett Street one of the most lauded food vendors in the neighborhood. The dumplings in particular (and the pork and beef combination recipe specifically) have received rave reviews and multiple local awards, a surprise to none who have pinned the delicious pockets between chopsticks, dipped them in the house-made plum sauce and given themselves over to dough-wrapped heaven.
In case you can’t tell, this reporter is a fan.

Owner and chef Eton Chan stands proudly next to his ice shaving machine and a rainbow of flavor options. Eton explained how his fascination with shave ice began:

When my wife and I got married, we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. When we got there, we heard about this Hawaiian shave ice… it was like the most amazing thing we’d ever had. It was like no other ice. We came back and we really missed it. So we bought a machine and we’re like, great, let’s sell it on the sidewalk… it just so happens we need a mobile food vendor license. And that… it’s like a lottery pick.

So we’re looking around, and there’s a store right across from where live – I used to live on Henry and Sackett. We’re like, oh, that spot would be perfect. It’s across the street, it’s small, simple.

Though Eton has since moved to a more pedestrian-friendly location just off of Smith Street, the recipe has stayed the same. Small, simple – and delicious.

The honeymoon explains the shave ice. Chan also happens to be a sucker for a good dumpling. But it’s wasn’t his choice alone. “My wife,” he explained. “She’s the number one reason we picked dumplings – we both like eating dumplings and she’s the reason why I started making them.”

In Eton’s first location, the landlord wouldn’t allow Chan to install gas burners. Not a problem for an astute chef:

We had to be creative… what do we have? We have electricity. So what we use are induction units. They use electromagnetic waves to conduct heat in a stainless steel pan. If you put plastic on it, aluminum, copper, brass – it won’t work. It’s gotta be stainless steel. So that solved our cooking problem.

The induction units aren’t the only equipment that makes Eton a unique dining experience. The colorful stacks of cups for shave ice are imported from Hawaii, as are the straws, the flavors, and of course the shaving machine.

Though the shave ice gear has a long way to travel, much of the supplies are locally sourced, says Chan. “The chicken and the pork and beef come from Los Paisanos. We try to keep it local. Most of the produce we get from around the neighborhood, except for the dough.”

So what is the special ingredient that makes this reporter crave the dumplings fortnightly? It’s all in the flour:

The flour we get from China. And I think that’s one of the secrets. It’s different. The flour’s different if you get it from North Dakota or Indiana or wherever – it depends on the climate, depends on the soil. [I asked myself] why don’t my dumplings taste the same as the ones in China? It’s the dough. And the water. But mostly the dough. The protein’s different, the wheat’s different, it grows different, the sun is different. There’s a whole alchemy to that. So that’s what sets us apart, is the flour.

Since their expansion, Eton has added small pulled pork sandwiches and bubble tea to their menu. The few Manhattanites who read CHB should know they’re also serving dumplings and shave ice at the flea market at 121 W. 3rd Street. And this Saturday, Eton will debut their new plum-glazed Asian Wings at Brooklyn Flea. They’re sure to be divine.

All Photos © THE SHALTZES/photographers