Who puts the Xiao in the Long Bao....
We had late lunch yesterday at Taiwan Cafe which has been our go-to for years. I love the Fujian wait staff and the soup dumplings aka steamed mini buns aka xiao long bao are our favorite. Our order included one xlb (pork), little neck clams w/basil and black bean sauce, sauteed pea shoots with garlic, beef rolled in scallion pancake, and Taiwan fried noodle. The clams were spot on with a healthy dose of small fiery green chilis. The pea shoots perhaps lacking some of the buttery garlicy taste that kills vampires with cholesterol issues. The scallion roll, a tad dry but tasty with a smear of hoisin and pinch of 5 spice. The first inkling something might be up was the noodle. It was wet, a little oily. That great wok breath high heat taste was off. "Uh oh". And....the dumplings were different. Bamboo instead of metal steamer arrived. More perfectly pleated with no hole on top. These mini buns were hot and delicious, full of soup and unbreakable. No duds. The taste was a little like Joe's Shanghai in NYC, a bit on the fatty side. (Less greasy maybe better). The filling was not too compacted. The dough was thin and not chewy but it was resilient as though it had been flash fried in a vacuum. Just slightly crisped. We could've pried this out of the steamer with any force necessary, even tossed them about like water balloons, without fear of breakage. A change in the force? Maybe. Could just been the Sunday afternoon crew and yet I am a bit concerned. Anyone else seen a change at Taiwan Cafe?
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Taiwan Cafe
34 Oxford St, Boston, MA 02111
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We've been going to Taiwan Cafe regularly since last fall after hearing about it here (thanks, hounds!). The XLB have always arrived for us in bamboo steamers. They are so good that my wife and I each get our own order. It's become a little bit of a problem as there are so many other places in C-town that I want to try but once she finds something she likes everything else is only viewed as an opportunity cost.
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Funny timing, a friend of mine in just took me to Joe's Shanghai in NYC this weekend for my first soup dumplings and now that I'm back in Boston I know I'm going to be craving these soon!
Dumpling cafe and Taiwan Cafe both sound like they need investigation for XLB. Any place else I should check out?
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i'm assuming when you say they were "crisped", that was poetic license? I tried them tonight but they were not crispy (or fried) at all. I think Dumpling Cafe offers them either steamed or pan fried, though (not to be confused with shen jian bao).
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re: barleywino
Nab
May 23, 2011 05:17 PM
Hey barley, are you sure they offer pan-fried XLBs at Dumpling Cafe ? The dumplings on their menu with the $0.25 upcharge for 'fried' are not soup dumplings I don't believe, but I would love to know for sure if that's the case.
Haven't had em in a long while, but the XLBs at Taiwan Cafe will always have a special place in my heart (other than my aorta). They definitely are resilient little buggers, great place to hone your XLB-eating skills. Not the Best Bao in Boston by a far cry, but every other bao in town makes me long for their filling, fatty as it may be. Their skins are way too thick, but gosh, I kinda like the chew and they have ... flava. It's a barbaric bao no doubt, but dangit they are mighty tasty. Dumpling Cafe seems to consistently have the best bun-skins around town. (Bun-skins. Heh. That's fun to say. Say it.) They're not daisy-delicate to the extent of being transparent, but a very nice sag-factor as can be seen below (sag photo courtesy of another_adam).
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re: barleywino
EATTV
May 23, 2011 05:51 PM
Does it show in the photo that the skin is a bit shinny. Not literally crisped but tougher than usual... yet still delectable. Some things were just a little off to us so thanks for reaffirming that the important details aren't changing for now. (I'm still pining away for Noodle Alcove). Perhaps a progressive dumpling safari is in order. Propitious!
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