Din Tai Fung
After visiting both Hong Kong and mainland China, I have
learned that in America what we call “Chinese” food (think PF Chang’s) is
actually Cantonese food, from Hong Kong. Actual Chinese food, always served
with Long Jin green tea, is centered more around a variety of dumplings and
buns (with the occasional Kung Pao Chicken and noodle soup tucked in there of course). Our tour guide in Shanghai, Melody, took us to Din Tai Fung for lunch, a
“fast food” chain with a Michelin one star honor as of this year.
We started with a “cold dish” of seaweed and bean curd in
Vinegar Dressing followed by a Hot and Sour Soup. I unfortunately found some
hair in my soup and was quickly turned off by that :-/.
Next we had two types of dumplings served in the bamboo baskets they were steamed in. One was a pork and shrimp dumpling. And my favorite was called Xiaolongbao, a Shanghai specialty. It is a pork dumpling that comes with a set of eating instructions. First they bring ginger to the table which you must soak in vinegar and soy sauce as an optional sauce. I didn’t use this sauce as the dumplings were very juicy and flavorful on their own. You take the dumpling, dip it in the sauce if you wish, and place it on a flat-bottomed spoon. Next you take a chop stick and gently poke the dumpling. The dumpling has a juicy broth that oozes out onto the spoon as you pop it straight into your mouth. It was delightful. Finally, we ended our meal with egg fried rice (a little too eggy for my taste), drinking lots of green tea throughout the meal. This chain also has a few locations in California that I know I will visit whenever I am feeling nostalgic about my Asian adventures.
Instructions for eating the dumplings in English and Mandarin
Ginger & Soy sauce for the dumplings
Poking the dumpling on my spoon
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