Shocker alert:Din Tai Fung,the restaurant group that serves THE BEST Shanghai-style xiao long bao I’ve ever had in my life,originated from Taiwan?! I felt hurt and betrayed. But then I ate another dumpling and all was well.
Din Tai Fung has several locations in Taiwan and China,Shanghai included. What they do is take a handful of simple dishes like potstickers and dumplings,perfect it,and execute it flawlessly and consistently. We went to the Din Tai Fung at the SOGO Mall and there was an open-glass window to their kitchen so onlookers can watch their dumpling-making operation. In the middle of the kitchen is a square table with four workers. The first guy rolls the skins from the preformed dough balls. He then tosses the skins across the table to the second guy,who fills them with a scoop of filling. He then slides these to the third,who folds them with at least 15 folds per dumpling. Dexterity +5000. He places them gingerly into empty steamer baskets. The fourth guy takes these baskets to the kitchen to be steamed. It’s a beautiful thing to watch and I wish I could’ve taken a video…but there’s a sign explicitly saying “NO PHOTO OR VIDEO.” Shucks.
This is the ginger that’s served with the xiao long bao order. It’s shredded razor thin (what mandolin did they use ’cause I WANTS IT) –so thin you can stand to eat the strands straight up without the gingery bite.
Chive dumplings had at least 20 folds per dumpling. I would need tiny elvin hands to make these.
Pork potstickers were fried in one happy chorus line and you can see the thin fried crust connecting them all together.
Pork Chop on Fried Rice was good,not great. It wasn’t as crispy or deep fried as your typical Taiwanese fried pork chop. Just stick with the dumplings.
Hot &Sour Soup was mostly sour and not spicy. It was still a great soup overall.
And finally…the star of the show…
These xiao long bao have a really delicate skin. Ripping this skin before consumption is like committing a sin,having all that precious juice leak out. The juice is light,not greasy like Joe’s Shanghai,and tastes of lean pork. Needless to say,these xiao long bao are highly addictive. You could eat a whole order (8 of them) without blinking. Get two orders for yourself,with a side order of potstickers,and you’re set.
