Nanxiang Mantou Dian (Shanghai, China)

Xiao Long Bao

To me, the xiao long bao (chinese steamed soup dumpling, or XLB for me), is about as close to a perfect bite as one could get. When made correctly, the skin is not too thick (becoming chewy) or too thin (unable to hold the soup inside the dumpling), the soup inside is hot and plentiful, and the meat perfectly seasoned. To me, I judge a shanghainese restaurant by the quality of their XLB. My quest/obsession for the perfect XLB is really what got me started experimenting in the kitchen, but I’ll save that story for another time.

When I found out that I would be in Shanghai for a few days during my trip to Asia, I made it a point to go to Nanxiang Mantou Dian at all cost. From reading about it on blogs to seeing it on the Travel Channel’s Anthony Bourdain: “No Reservation”, I knew that this decision would not disappoint.

Nanxiang Mantou Dian

Despite being located inside Yu Garden, a popular tourist spot, Nanxiang Mantou Dian (which literally translated as “Nanxiang Steamed Bread Store”) attracts both locals and foreigners alike. Sitting inside a 3-story building with each story as a different “restaurant”, this place was buzzing around with people even in the middle of the afternoon when I got there.

The first floor (ground level) of the restaurant is solely a “take out” business – think of a drive through without the cars but with masses of people instead. On the first floor, you’ll find the fewest selection and the cheapest XLBs. When there’s smoke, there’s gotta be fire right?? So even though I did not try the XLBs from this floor, I was already pretty amused with the size of the line and, importantly, I knew I was in for a treat.

The second floor is a find your own seat type affair. There’s more of a selection and the prices are moderate.

The third and top floor is the “restaurant-restaurant” with the most selection, more aggressively priced items (for what it’s worth, still cheap by US standards), and least wait time (usually). We sat down without having to wait and as soon as I looked at the menu, my only thought in my head was to calculate how many XLBs I can eat. As you can see, I was pretty happy,

Mission Accmoplished!!

We ordered all sorts of XLBs. From traditional pork filling to XLBs filled with crab meat, and even one filled with shark fin!!

Happy =)

Then they also have their speciality (picture below): a bigger individual sized dumpling that has nothing but soup inside. This looks so damn good in pictures and on video, but to be perfectly honest, this was really just a gimmick to get you to pay more for an XLB. If you’re curious (like I am), just try it to settle your curiosity. But I personally didn’t think there was anything special here. It was just a novelty of sticking a straw inside an XLB to drink the soup.

Caution: HOT!!!

Imma call this the soup dumpling bomb...

One of the coolest thing was that you could see the workers making (and pleating) the dumplings through a class window. While I’ve tried to make XLBs before and have tried to do my own pleating before, I can tell you that these workers make XLBs at an insane pace. Effortlessly grabbing the perfect amount of filling and rolling the dough to a perfect thickness, then pleating the dumpling shut while making it the perfect shape – it was truly unbelievable and much appreciated (especially after having tried to make my own while failing again, again, and again…).

They made it look sooooo easy...

Truly a work of art...

As much as I like Nanxiang Mantou Dian, I’ve got to be honest and say that not all branches are created equal. They have other branches now in other countries – I’ve personally been to the one in Hong Kong. So if you’re in Shanghai, this is (in my humble opinion) one of those places that one must go to at some point in their life.

Nanxing Mantou Dian
85 Yuyuan Road
Shanghai, China
021-63554206
http://www.yuyuantm.com.cn/yuyuan/En/Shopping/Particular.aspx?StoreID=71

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