SHANGHAI: Soup Dumplings Xiao Long Bao 小籠包

World Famous Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao!
I believe the most famous place for these Soup Dumpling

s are at a temple in Shanghai called the City God Temple (Cheng Huang Miao). The name of the restaurant is called NanXiang Man Tou Dian.
I love how this restaurant is all about bribery.
As you enter ground level of the restaurant, there are queues that go all the way out of the restaurant nearly to the next block(Approx. 60 people). If you go past the crowd and go up the stairs, you see another queue that goes all the way downstairs of about 40 people. As you go past THAT crowd and go to the third level, there is a lineup of about 20-30 people. There is one more floor on top of that, and there is a queue of about 10 people. Now the good part is, when you ask the people at the counter that you are in a hurry and HOW you can get a table faster, she will ask you for $50RMB. Immediately, you will be led to a nicer area of the restaurant and you will be seated.

And this is the index:
Ground Floor: 50% cheaper than the third level
Second Floor: 75% cheaper than the third level
Third Floor: Paying full price but you can order as much or as little as you like
Forth Floor: Paying full price and you have to order a set
Special Floor: Paying MORE, plus $50 and you have to order a set.

Isn't that awesome? And who says you can't pay to have things done?

The Shanghainese Xiao Long Bao are more well-known as this is where they originated from, however, to be honest, I like WuXi Xiao Long Bao more than Shanghainese. The soup is a little bit more sweet, the skin is much thinner and there's much more soup inside.

Here are some of the dishes we tried from the *Special Floor.

Appetizer Dishes The spinach was good, the fried stuff on the side were way too oily. The beans were decent, just like any other. The chicken was too oily and the Baozi on the top right hand corner were too dry. The Xiao Mai on the same dish were decent.

This was their soup, served in a bun. They gave you a straw for the stuff that was inside the bun. The presentation was very cute and something that seems very traditional. The taste, however was a bit on the bland side, the dough was soggy and very thick. The soup was very flavorful though.




And of course, the infamous Xiao Long Bao. Hot, gushing with soup, loved it with lots and lots of ginger and vinegar.

Now for the question: Do you the proper way to eat Xiao Long Bao? Eating Xiao Long Bao requires a certain technique, must say, eating it is an art within itself. Traditional secrets revealed:

Step-by-Step Guide to Eating Xiao Long Bao or Shanghai Soup Dumplings:
[Source: RasaMalaysia]

1. Pour some vinegar to the shredded ginger. (Xiao Long Bao's are always served with shredded ginger and Chinese black vinegar.)
2. Gently pick up a Xiao Long Bao with the chopsticks and make sure that you don't break the skin. You can do so by holding the Xiao Long Bao in the middle.
3. Gently dip the Xiao Long Bao in the ginger vinegar sauce.
4. Lift it up and place it on the spoon.
5. Nibble the side of the Xiao Long Bao and suck the soup/broth inside the Xiao Long Bao. (This is the best way of savoring the meaty, juicy, and flavorful broth/soup inside the dumpling.)
6. Add some ginger and vinegar (as you like) to the dumpling and eat the rest.
7. Savour. Hmmmm... Yummm.....