One of my favourite small bites is a basket of steamed small dragon buns ( Xiao Long Pao). They were supposed from Shanghai and I must say that when I first had them during my visit to Shanghai’s Yue Yuen (Yue Garden) years ago, I was suitably impressed but not knocked over.
When I first visited Taipei with my then boss, we went to a local restaurant called Din Tai Fung where they specialised in this. They had a kitchen in the front with a large glass window where you could watch the cooks at work - nimble fingers encasing the minced pork filling into thin pastries with the standard number of 18 folds at the top. With the very first tongue-burning piece that I had, I was hooked for life. I make my pilgrimage to Din Tai Fung in Taipei whenever I am there.
Since then, Din Tai Fung has opened branches in many countries and having eaten in several of them, I have to say that if you want the best Xiao Long Pao in town, go to Din Tai Fung. The main restaurant in Taipei still serves the best version of their Xiao Long Pao.
Xiao Long Pao is literally a steamed dumpling with minced meat and soup in it. A good Xiao Long Pao has to fulfil several criteria:
> Thin strong skin - gently lift the dumpling with your chopsticks and not only should the skin remain intact, but you should be able to see a little reserviour of soup at the bottom.
> Filling - the minced meat within the dumpling should be juicy and succullent which means that it has a good ratio of meat to fat. It should not be too salty.
How to eat a Xiao Long Pao:
> When the hot steaming basket of Xiao Long Pao arrives, control your impulse to grab a dumpling with your chopsticks. Wait … it needs to cool down a bit unless you plan to torture your tongue with the hot soup that lies innocently in each dumpling.
> After a minute or two, gently lift a dumpling with your chopsticks (do not attempt to scoop it with a spoon or you will break the skin and lose the soup!), dip it into a plate of ginger infused with dark vinegar and place it on your chinese soup spoon.
> Take a few strains of ginger infused vinegar and place them on top of the dumpling.
If you feel brave enough, you can pop the whole dumpling into your mouth.
> If you dare not risk burning your tongue, then gently bite into the side of the dumpling, use your chopsticks to lift the dumpling off the spoon and tip the soup out of the dumpling onto the soup spoon. Drink the soup and then pop the whole dumpling into your mouth.
I prefer to eat the dumpling whole as I love the sensation of the soup bursting out of the dumpling when I chomp into it.
There is an on-going debate with regards to which restaurant in town serves the best xiao long pao. Everyone has an opinion and a favourite. I’ve tried them all. My verdict is always Din Tai Fung - everywhere else is second best. Din Tai Fung has mastered the art of making the perfectly delectable Xiao Long Pao - everywhere else is just a copy of the master.
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