What started as a small unpretentious restaurant in Taiwan has become a Worldwide Phenomenon. We stopped by their branch in CentralWorld in Bangkok today to give their legendary dumplings a taste.
XIAO LONG BAOS
These steamed pork dumplings (xia long baos) are the signature dish, and what keep people coming back for more. In fact, the restaurant is so popular that you are given the menu while you wait outside to be seated. By the time you are seated your selections are being prepared meticulously for you. Apart from the secret ingredients which go into the pork bun each one is individually made by hand. Each dumpling must have exactly 18 folds in it. The outside of the dumpling should be delicate and soft while inside should be juicy and sweet.
MAKING OUR SELECTIONS
PREPARING THE DUMPLINGS
FOLDING 18 TIMES BY HAND
STEAMING THE DUMPLINGS
THE FAMOUS DUMPLINGS ARE READY
EATING THE DUMPLING
To say that these were exquisite would be an understatement. Their taste really is almost indescribable. Firstly you place a little fresh ginger and soy into your spoon, and then place one dumpling onto the spoon. Gently pinch the dumpling and the liquid goodness from inside will burst into the spoon and mix with your other ingredients. You must then slurp the delicious soup before biting into the rest of the dumpling. Outstanding!
We tried a few of the other dishes which were also very good but paled into comparison to the pork dumplings. It would be hard to match them.
SLICED DUCK CRISPY SPRING ONION PASTRY
FRAGRANT PORK WITH CRUSHED GARLIC
STEAMED MUSHROOM DUMPLING INFUSED WITH TRUFFLE OIL
STEAMED SHRIMP & PORK DUMPLINGS
Din Tai Fung
If you live in any of the following place then you are in luck, and need to check it out:
- Taiwan
- China
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Hong Kong
- Japan
- Malaysia
- South Korea
- Indonesia
- Australia
- USA
I can highly recommend Din Tai Fung and even more so their specialty dish "Xiao Long Baos".
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