Xiao Lung Bao (Steamed Soup Dumpling)

[bhchao]

There is a DTF in the city of Arcadia in the Los Angeles area. I have eaten the Xiao Long Bao there a couple times and it is pretty good. Wish the size of the Xiao Long Bao was a little bit bigger though. The restaurant is packed each night. You have to get there before 6pm on Friday and Saturday nights to get a seat.

[TSkillet]

Here's my two tips:

1. When in Taipei - go to the 2nd Ding Tai Fung if you don't want to wait in line. There's a newer branch which is on Chung Xiao East Road

2. Also when in Taipei, whatever you do, do not get frustrated at the line at the Original Ding Tai Fung and decide to eat at one of the dumpling restuarants around the corner or down the street. THEY ARE TERRIBLE.

The last time I had pretty good xiaolongbao was in Houston -we have a Taiwanese style dumpling/noodle house called Shandong Mian Guan on Bellaire Blvd.

[krinkle]

can these be made successfully at home?

if so anyone have a recipe? they sound wonderful thank you

[bhchao]

Does anyone know how nutritious is Xiao Lung Bao? It tastes great depending on which restaurant you go to, but what about the nutritional value overall?

[LiYuanXi]

There is a Ding tai feng in Singapore too. At Paragon, Orchard Road. Simply delicious! *hungry already*

[ala]

Go to Shanghai, every restaurant has them, as it is from Shanghai afterall. I think Yu Yuan has a pretty famous store, but there's always a long line.

[asharpe]

I recently had them on the 3rd floor of the restaurant next to the zig-zag bridge in Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai. Supposedly, Clinton ate here. By the way, we later ate on the 2nd floor, not knowing that the chefs and the food gets better as you ascend the floors. It was good, but not nearly as good as the third floor. We probably had the best there was to offer there, since the pecking order seems to be, from highest quality to lowest: 3rd floor, 2nd floor, 1st floor, then the stand outside that always has the long lines.

A friend of ours showed us how to eat them, by biting a small hole in the baozi, and drinking the soup inside first.

[skylee]

I thought Clinton ate at Lupolang (綠波廊) instead of Nanxiang (南翔) ...

[asharpe]

This was Lupolong. It looks out over the zigzag bridge. I didn't know there was another restaurant there. Anyway, they had a picture of him.

[Gary Soup]

The model for good xiaolong bao is undeniably the Nanxiang Xiaolong Mantou Dian overlooking the nine turn bridge in Yuyuan (Shanghai). (Shanghainese actualy call it xiaolong mantou, or "sh'long moodou" in local parlance). Incidentally, it doesn't matter which floor you sit on. It's cooked democratically on the ground floor and sent upstairs by dumbwaiter.

That's my brother-in-law in the background, waiting for me to finish taking the damn pictures.

[skylee]

yummy.

YUMMY.

[owen]

small steamed bun(xiao long bao)'s hometown is shanghai,nanxiang country.do u know?

Actually, I think they are originally from Suzhou. That's what my Shanghai friend told me when she took me there to eat some of the finest.

Taiwan generally has good xiao long bao. Although I like them thin skinned, I am getting used to the Beijing style. That is, ligh and bready and on the drier side. I wish there were fresh ginger as condiment more widely available here on the mainland.[/code]

[Ian_Lee]

To eat Xiao Long Bao, you must dip it in the compatible condiment:

Zhejiang vinegar (浙醋) with sliced ginger

I have tried the XLB with red vinegar, white vinegar and even worchester sauce, but somehow Zhejiang vinegar fits best.

[bhchao]

The worst Xiao Long Bao I tasted was cooked by a Taiwanese restaurant owner in LA. Also whenever I picked up one of the pieces, the juice pours out.

Din Tai Fung in Arcadia, owned by the brother of the Taipei branch owner, is not bad. The only thing that worries me is that the Xiao Long Bao there look so fragile, and you can see the juice shaking inside the dumpling when you pick them up with your chopsticks. But it still does not break.

The best Xiao Long Bao I tasted was in a restaurant owned by a native Shanghainese woman, which comes as no surprise.

[marcopolo79]

上海才有正宗小龍湯包!

I think the best Xiaolongtangbao can be found in Shanghai, in the area north of the Suzhou Creek (not too far from the PuJiang Hotel) there is a whole neighborhood that has managed to escape the wrecking ball, where a few old-school family run dumpling houses can be found. Every morning the tangbao are made fresh, with scrumptious crab eggs just begging to seep out.

鼎=dis

泰=gus

豐=ting

Especially the one near 忠孝敦化 station, it's extremely expensive, the service is sub-par, and the dumplings aren't worth the hype. I've heard the original one by 永康街 is much better, but I don't think I'd be willing to give it another chance.

[skylee]

鼎=dis

泰=gus

豐=ting

the service is sub-par, and the dumplings aren't worth the hype.

I don't think I'd be willing to give it another chance.

I can't agree more. :clap

[Gary Soup]

上海才有正宗小龍湯包!

I think the best Xiaolongtangbao can be found in Shanghai, in the area north of the Suzhou Creek (not too far from the PuJiang Hotel) there is a whole neighborhood that has managed to escape the wrecking ball, where a few old-school family run dumpling houses can be found. Every morning the tangbao are made fresh, with scrumptious crab eggs just begging to seep out.

鼎=dis

泰=gus

豐=ting

Especially the one near 忠孝敦化 station, it's extremely expensive, the service is sub-par, and the dumplings aren't worth the hype. I've heard the original one by 永康街 is much better, but I don't think I'd be willing to give it another chance.

Shanghai is full of neighborhood places run by former production line slaves of the Nanxiang XLMTD who learned the trade and then set out on their own. It's difficult to find bad XLB at these hole-in-the-wall enterprises. Maybe it takes a foreign enterprise with its own notion of how to run a railroad (or a dumpling shop) to screw it up.

[TSkillet]

hey - can anyone give me the address of the original Ding Tai Fung (both in Chinese and in english) in Taipei? A friend of mine is trying to go - but I can't tell her how to get there.

[Gary Soup]

How about this:

DIN TAI FUNG

(ZHONG XIAO BRANCH)

218, Zhong Xiao (Chung Hsiao) East Rd., section 4 (enter from Lane 216)

Tel: (02) 2721-7890

Hours: 11 am-2 pm; 4 pm-10 pm

「鼎泰豐」忠孝店

忠孝東路四段218號(自216巷進入)

電話:(02) 2721-7890

營業時間:11 am- 2 pm; 4 pm- 10 pm

Don't thank me, thank Google.

[TSkillet]

hmm .. . my google skills must be lacking. all i came up with was a bunch of weblogs of people who had eaten there.

thanks for the help!