Dumpling Quest: Xiǎolóngbāo at the Yu Gardens2

★☆☆☆☆

Much has been written about and said regarding the famous Shanghai xiǎolóngbāo found at the historic and “tranquil” Yu Gardens.  I finally decided to venture over there to see what all the hype was about.

I waited in line for about twenty minutes before eight pristinely white xiǎolóngbāo were tossed into my Styrofoam container.  As I bit the skin – to ensure that the scalding broth did not burn my tongue – I was overwhelmed with disappointment.

There was no broth.  These are Shanghai’s revered soup dumplings, so you might think liquid would be a pretty standard requisite.  Not only was there no broth, the actual dumpling wrapper was too tough.  I was puzzled as to why the dough tasted tough and stale, as the long line suggested that these were being freshly steamed, then served instantly.

Turns out that because so many people frequent this dumpling joint, they pre-steam their dumps, then just simply reheat them.  This would seem a rather efficient way to meet the volume of customers, but the result is a dry, tough wrapper, with no soup.

Next time I’m at the Yu Gardens, I think I’ll bypass the crowds and head straight over to Shouning Lu for some authentically fresh street food.