Xiǎolóngbāo

OK…so I’m settled in to the hotel, and I haven’t eaten since this morning in the airport. After all, it’s all about the food, right? So, I remember years ago as a kid eating “Shao-Lum-bao” at my cousins’ home in Long Island. At the time, these were small chinese dumplings that we steamed ourselves right from the freezer. They were good, but until I began preparations (ie researching food) for Shanghai, I hadn’t realized that these were something special to Shanghai…and that what I had eaten from the freezer were nothing compared to the real deal.

I found a variety of articles on the web and even one in the airline magazine when we flew to Cupertino the other week. But, the reality of a big city (and I mean big) where taxi driver’s do not speak English, I didn’t really attempt to find the same places as the articles…especially since many of them didn’t really spell it out where to go,…just the such and such place near the corner of such and such.

I made my way to the Yuyuan Garden figuring I could do some shopping, sightseeing and eating all at once. Turned out I was right. I did find a dumpling restaurant that, by descriptions I’d read online, may have been one of the places detailed as it was multiple stories, and at the ground level, there was a long line of people standing and waiting to get some Xiǎolóngbāo. However, as noted in the some articles, just go upstairs, and find a table. I did just that, and found a table without waiting. I think it was more expensive upstairs, but by US standards, everything was cheap.Ordered the dumplings along with another recommendation which was a good choice. It was like a large dumpling about the size of baseball with a straw. Inside was a crab soup. Don’t forget kids…never drink soup through a straw…well, I did anyway, but did so very carefully so I wouldn’t burn my mouth!

So what is the deal with Xiaolongbao? These appear to be simple dumplings, but what makes them different is that they have not only a meat filling, but broth. Apparently, reading up on these tasty things before I got here, someone figured out how to mix in broth in gelatin form into the meat mixture. So, when cooked, the broth is released inside the dumpling. Biting into one and you get a juicy, moist dumpling not at all like what you might be used to. They really were very good, and I’m not sure I’ll every figure out how to do it, but it gives me something to aspire to!

These two things along with a few other tidbits that they insisted I eat…clearly when a non-Chinese speaking person shows up…these waitresses understand the upsell…but I had no problems since the menu had no photos and no English…of course, I sometimes wonder if they have other menus for people that they more quickly figure out speak no Chinese? Anyway a very filling lunch for less then $10 USD.

Tags: Shanghai, Xiaolongbao