小笼包Shanghai
How to eat xiaolongbao, Shanghai's soup dumplings
There is hot soup inside. The shop will not warn you. The rhyme locals learn as kids: lift lightly, move slowly, open a window, drink the soup.
20–35 RMB / 12 pcsPrice
ShanghaiCity
小笼包In Chinese
Step by step
- Put ginger shreds in the small dish, pour black vinegar over them. That is your dip.
- Lift one dumpling by the top pleat with chopsticks onto your spoon. Slowly. If the skin tears, the soup is gone.
- Bite a small hole in the side. Blow once. Sip the soup out of the hole.
- Now dip the rest in vinegar with a shred of ginger and eat it in one or two bites.
Where to go
Jia Jia Tang Bao (佳家汤包), Huanghe Road, get there before 8:30. Nanxiang (南翔馒头店) at Yu Garden if you want the famous queue.
The one mistake
Dipping the whole dumpling first and biting it in half. That is how you burn your lip and stain your shirt.
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Before you fly
How much English is there?
Hotels and airports, yes. Restaurants, taxis and shops, mostly no. That is why every card here ends with a phrase to show. Download the Chinese pack for your translate app's camera before you fly.
Related guides
Do you need a visa?
Check your passport against China's official lists.