小笼包 ($6.50), 红油抄手 ($5), 四川担担面 x2 ($4.50 each)!
Hawker XLB + Sichuan combo — 10 pc 小笼包 $6.50 + 10 pc 红油抄手 $5 + 担担面 x2 at $4.50 each. The full Sichuan-Shanghainese hawker order.
Monday lunch with BB — went hard at a hawker XLB-and-Sichuan stall. 10 pc 小笼包 ($6.50) + 10 pc 红油抄手 ($5) + 四川担担面 x2 ($4.50 each). The proper full-spread Sichuan-Shanghainese order.
We ordered:
- 小笼包 (xiao long bao, 10 pcs) — $6.50
- 红油抄手 (Sichuan red-oil wontons, 10 pcs) — $5
- 四川担担面 (Sichuan dan dan noodles) x2 — $4.50 each
Total: $20.50 for the spread.
This is the kind of order you make when you want to test the full range of a Chinese hawker stall — soup dumplings for the Shanghainese skill, Sichuan wontons and dan dan for the chilli-oil game. Stalls that do both styles well are not as common as you’d think.
小笼包 (XLB) at 10 pieces for $6.50 is honest hawker pricing. The skins were thin without tearing — that fine line of dough-rolling skill. Each one held hot soup inside, with the proper pork filling. The chopsticks-to-spoon-to-mouth choreography matters; you tear a small hole in the side, sip the soup out, then eat the dumpling. Pleat count was decent (around 16-18 per dumpling, which is the proper count even if not the famous Din Tai Fung 18).
红油抄手 (hong you chao shou) at 10 for $5 was the value play. Sichuan-style boiled wontons drowned in a chilli oil that had real depth — sesame, garlic, the slow ma la peppercorn build that you only get when someone has actually rendered the oil from scratch. Wantons were silky and well-filled.
担担面 (dan dan mian) at $4.50 each were the substantial bowls. Sichuan dry noodles tossed in chilli oil, sesame paste, soy, vinegar, with minced pork and pickled vegetables on top. Each strand coated thoroughly. The combination of nutty sesame and fiery chilli oil is the dan dan signature.
At $20.50 for two on the full Sichuan-Shanghainese spread, this is excellent hawker value.
Overall: 4.4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Strong hawker XLB + Sichuan stall — would re-order.
