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Green Chopsticks Fun! via @greenchopsticks

Posted by on April 18, 2012

I first heard about Green Chopsticks when I interacted with them via social media prior to #ExpoWest then at the expo I met up with John Hang, the media relations coordinator from there.  He was great, open, and friendly.

He invited me out to their facility, and of course, I brought along a group!  Green Chopsticks has an open door policy within their facility to check out how they run things, and it’s also to show that they are abiding to standards and have nothing to hide.

Let me run you through the process:

The first thing we did when we got there was walk through the cleaning room.  We were told to sanitize our hand then we were all given lab coats!  Then we were told to walk through the little room above where air would blow out at us to get rid of any particles hanging onto us.  We’d walk out of the room in the black mat to sanitize our shoes.  This is the process they go through every morning when the workers start their day in the plant.  This was the first time I ever had to be sanitized down completely.

The next stop was the dough room.  This is literally the room they make all of their dough.  Because it was later in the day they were done with this step of the process.

Once the dough is made, it is put on these giant spools which then get threaded through the machines in the following rooms.  Btw: That is John Hang above.

You know what I love about Green Chopsticks?  They utilize all fresh products, and on a daily basis cut their own products for the dumplings and potstickers.   And wow, I’d be streaming tears being surrounded by all those onions!

This is the giant mixer that combines all the ingredients together.  The meat, the vegetables, and the spices to make this giant filling.

The following room was my favorite of the entire tour.  This is where you saw the machines in action, and saw the process of the dumplings being made.

BTW: I could watch this machine for hours.  First, as the dough was cut out then spun around in the process of the dumplings being made to them coming out on the conveyor belt.

What are they doing above?  They’re going through every dumpling and getting rid of the ones that didn’t make the cut or form the way they were suppose to.  I think it’s pretty rad that they do this.

After the sorting process, the dumplings make their way to the giant freezer.  This is where they get ready for the packaging process.  This freezer is huge, but by the end, the dumplings are frozen and ready to go.

And voila.  The other side of the freezer.  They land into this fun bowl where workers pack them up into their packaging to be sent out.  That day they were working on putting the product into sample boxes.  These are the boxes they bring to their road shows they do while working at Costco’s.

Where can you find Green Chopsticks?  Right now, they can be found at Bristol Farm’s and Gelson markets.  I was in Bristol Farms yesterday looking for them.  They were priced pretty reasonable at 4.99 a bag.

They also do 5 roadshows a week starting on Thursday and going through Sunday at various Costco’s throughout the LA area.  Each week on their website they post where they’re headed.

They can also be found in the Pacific Northwest.  If anyone back home is interested in these products I’d be more than happy to work with you to try to get some sent your way ;0

That night I went home and made my first batch of the dumplings, and was pleasantly pleased with their taste.  I just boiled them in water.  Next time I’m going to sear them nicely in the frying pan, that was the way John Hang recommended.

*Disclosure* Green Chopsticks did not pay me to post this, but after the tour did provide me with free samples of their dumplings and potstickers.  All of the information above was written straight from me.  

 

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