Xiao Long Bao [小笼包]
There are all kinds of buns found on Shanghai streets, but one of them is particularly well known of Shanghai, it’s called Xiao Long Bao (小笼包). It’s a steamed bun, about the size of a golf ball, very thin “skin”, generally meat ball inside but sometime with crab meat also. It’s quite “juicy” when well done, actually the “juice” appears during the steam process, envelopped in the thin layer of skin. It is served extremely hot in the restaurant (because of the hot juice inside) and one has to eat carefully, by bitting a small hole first, let the smoke come out a few seconds, then eat the whole thing in one bite.
At my third day, we went to a restaurant called Nan Xiang, the most reputated restaurant for Xiao Long Bao in China, actually certified by many Chinese top leaders over the years. There is something really unique about this restaurant that you don’t find anywhere else.
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It has 4 stories:
- At the street level, people are lining up on the street to buy for take out, it cost 10RMB (~2.5$CA) for 16 buns. People generally eat right outside of the restaurant, or on their way back to the tourist car. At any moment of the day, you can see a few dozen people lining up for almost an hour to buy these freshly made buns.
- At the 1st floor, it costs 18RMB for 16 buns, but there are seats and tables available, if you can grap one. This is how it works: you buy ticket at the entrance for what you want to eat, you try to grap a seat or 2. On a typical 1m x 1m table there are normally 8 people around it, so if you complain about French bistro table too small for 2, think about seating 4 people around it! If all the seats are taken (quite often), you don’t line up in front of the entrance as usual, but you have to stand behind the seats that you feel will be finishing soon, and as soon as they stand up, you seat right on it. If they take too long to finish, it’s actually ok to talk bad about them or starring on them to put some pressure indirectly.
- On the 2nd floor, people do line up properly and wait for a table to free up, the buns are made a little better than the floors below, but prices are twice more expensive for half the quantity!
- At the 3rd floor, it’s where the reputation of this restaurant can be verified. They served the best xiao long bao ever made (well, taste differs with people of course, but most people agree this is best). It has more crab meat than pork, the skin is really really thin, very juicy, the soup is excellent, service is good too.
So, who said communist can’t have class? I think this is quite fair, you pay for what you get, but at least everybody have a chance to try the best xiao long bao of China.