Shanghai truly has a world class food icon. As to whether their Nanxiang Xiao Long Bao Restaurant undoubtedly serves up the best, – is always fodder for debate and constantly invites engaging discourse on the craft behind that bao. And that, is one reason why I say they are the best in the world. For the record, I have eaten that famed “xiao long” in the City God Temple at Yuyuan many times over and I do think they are good, but not bone chilling good. The skin in thicker than the version I adore from Wuxi (just outside Shanghai) and the fillings are substantial and soupy. Some folks like the skin thicker as it fills up the tummy. I don’t, and it has to do with the fear of getting fatter - a concrete jungle warrior idiosyncrasy with a sense of false affluence.

one chomp, to expose the meat and soup as an litmus test of quality..
that’s my style.

At Yuyuan, an army of chefs and cooks fold and press each xiao long bao individually in a glassed performance kitchen to tantalize and tease visitors. The steam the rises from the little steamers (xiao long) excites the palate. That’s a visual signature- a style many copy and adapt in their eateries (think the many glassed pastry and bread kitchens and similar styled xiao long bao restaurants around). Nanxiang has been at it for over a century and is the oldest and the most respectable dumpling restaurant in China. Their fellow countrymen in other parts of China regard it as a must eat and see spot in Shanghai. It is their makan treasure, alongside stuff like Peking Duck and dim sum. That’s heritage and history – something that taunts and engages the thought process. It is a food culture of their land and people. Even discerning foodies from lands afar use this Nanxiang version as a yardstick of measure against any other. They chant about the soup in the fillings- how did it get inside there (they use chill meat with fat and gelatinize juices which turns into soup when steamed).They analyse the dough mixture for the skin- dissect its components and conclude why it holds the soup up well inside and just what ingredients are best for the fillings and why. That’s food for thought. And when you lift one wobbly little bao in your chopsticks and anticipate the soup, filling, and fragility of the skin- that’s touch, another sensation it naturally offers you. Then, finally you get to sink your teeth (of course the palate and the tongue are not going to be independent observers) in to the bao, you will seduced by the sweetness, the steam and finally the taste- which is lifted with a dash of the vinegar and ginger sauce. That’ taste and smell. All that makes it truly a multi sensory dining sensation, although it is just some hole in the wall attached to a looooong queue kind of eatery (they have some private eating space upstairs but the extra cost is not justified). That’s what makes the Nanxiang Xiao Long Bao restaurant world class, it’s not the awards and citation, although they have countless, nor is it the quality of the baos. It is the entire persona, respect and reputation the place exudes and commands.

almost everyone in the picture were standing in line just for
that take out box of xiao long bao

My last encounter there was in early July this year. I flagged a disenchanted cabbie and told him I was in dire need of some Nanxiang xiao long at Yuyuan. He said nothing along the way and twenty minutes later, I was in a queue for the baos- 60 people thick. In between, I snuck a trip upstairs to check on the restaurant’s seating availability. It was like the opening of a brand new hawker centre where everything was at half price. The servers with trays of steamings bao had to jostle with late comers hawking the restaurant for an untaken seat. Even at the fourth floor, where they supposedly offer the finest service and created the best xiao long that comes with crab roe stuffing, it was a war zone – all fighting for space and the poor server’s attention. Another twenty minutes later, we were finally ready to order at the “hole in the wall”. We shouted our orders and it came, double time quick, in two styrofoam boxes (I did not really care)- each with twelve little steamy xiao long baos sitting on 3mm of vinegar and ginger sauce. They were not as wobbly and translucent but I knew it was holding up a sip of soup in the fillings within. I knew the art of eating it was to first nip a hole at the side and slurp the soup in, followed immediately, while mouth is still wet, with a big chomp of the xiao long bao. I was not that patient and my technique differed- one bite to expose half the bao and see half the filling sitting on some soup inside. Wah…food for the eyes and tummy- all in one go. The filling was meaty and firm with a soft crunch and the saltiness was balanced by the sweetish and soft dough skin. A perfect sliver of harmony and that cost roughly less than a plate of chicken rice). We chomped it on the steps by a souvenir shop, watching the world go by this world class makan haunt and travelers magnet in the centuries old Yuyuan Garden- a world class makan experience.

Video of the mad queue at Nanxiang Xiao Long, Shanghai: