小笼包 ($4.50)!
A steamer of five xiao long bao: thin-skinned pork soup dumplings with ginger and vinegar. $4.50.
A little dumpling treat: a steamer of 小笼包 (xiao long bao) for $4.50. 🥟😋
What we had:
- Xiao long bao: a basket of five pork soup dumplings, with ginger and vinegar on the side
A hot basket of soup dumplings is always a good idea. These came neatly pleated and steamed, the skins thin enough to see the filling but holding together, each one cradling a mouthful of hot, savoury soup around a seasoned pork filling.
The trick is the little ritual: lift one gently onto your spoon (don’t tear it), add some of the shredded ginger in vinegar, nip a small hole to let the steam escape, sip the broth first (carefully, it is hot), then eat the rest. The sharp ginger and vinegar cut through the richness beautifully.
At $4.50 for five from a hawker stall these were a steal. Not the paper-thin, precision-folded restaurant kind, but juicy, comforting and genuinely satisfying, with a proper hit of soup inside. Just what you want when a dumpling craving strikes.
Overall: 4.5 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Juicy little pork soup dumplings with sharp ginger and vinegar. Would re-order.
