Dishin’: How Now, Xiao Long Bao?
Few foods are more fun – or more perfect – than xiao long bao. Originating in Shanghai, xiao long bao translates to “little basket bun,” but they are more commonly known as soup dumplings. Steamed in bamboo baskets which hold six to eight dumplings, the doughy wrappers serve as pouches for a fantastic filling of meat and meaty broth.
Eat them hot, but not too hot, dipped in black vinegar with thin slivers of ginger. First try, you’ll likely burn your mouth from the soup surprise, then wonder “How do they get that stuff in there, anyway?” (It’s not injected; instead, the broth is actually gelatin that melts upon steaming.) Despite the danger, we enjoy the taste explosion from eating xiao long bao whole, whereas most people bite off part of the wrapper and slurp out the soup, using a spoon to catch any runaway filling.
Sadly, you won’t find worthwhile xiao long bao in Seattle. (The ones at Shanghai Garden, Noble Court, and anywhere else we’ve tried suffer from leaky soup syndrome, or are simply not the right taste or texture.) We admire the delicate wrappers at the highly acclaimed, Taiwan-based Din Tai Fung (closest location: Los Angeles), but we actually discovered better xiao long bao elsewhere in Taipei. Like most Chinese food, you’ll find higher quality soup dumplings in Vancouver (and especially Richmond) than in Seattle, with Chen’s and The Place being two of our favorites. But this dispatch comes from New York, home of Joe’s Shanghai (the Manhattan Chinatown location is best), which has our favorite xiao long bao in the world – a crab and pork variety. We can eat basket after basket, which we will until we return with our next report of something interesting that’s actually available in Seattle.
