Jia Jia Tang Bao

Another dish you cannot miss in Shanghai is soup dumplings (Xiaolongbao), a local snack popular amongst locals and tourists. While most Singaporeans are familiar with the xiaolongbao from Din Tai Fung, the origins of soup dumplings are from Nanxiang, a historic town on the outer edge of Shanghai

Invented around 1875 by a shop owner named Huang Mingxian, who added solid meat aspic to pork filling so it would melt into a hot broth during steaming. The recipe was quickly brought to central Shanghai and popularised in multiple stores offering the same dumplings around Yu Gardens.

Although the most famous soup dumpling restaurant is the Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, founded in 1900, I decided to try a new restaurant that was made popular by social media. Jia Jia Tang Bao was founded in 1986 and is famous for offering a traditional, down-to-earth style with delicate wrappers and rich, savoury broths. I visited the flagship outlet on Huanghe Road, which is the most popular tourist outlet, explaining the long queues and packed tables when I visited at 11 am

Famous with visitors and celebrities, there is a wall of fame within the restaurant as well as slogans around the restaurant with the tagline: Freshly made and steamed is the best tasting ( loosely translated)

Since I was eating alone, I only had the capacity to order 2 different types of dumplings. While there are other items like noodles and wonton soup, I went straight for the dumplings only. The first flavour I had was the pork with luffa. I fell in love with this combination after having it once in Taipei, and once I saw it on the menu, I decided to order it again. The skin was thin and in perfect pleats, with great juice and soup inside the dumplings. The luffa added a refreshing layer of flavour to the meaty filling

The 2nd dumpling I ordered was the pure crab roe soup dumpling, which was literally just crab roe soup inside the dumpling, as I chose the one without meat. The moment I bit into the dumpling, all the soup flowed out, leaving me with an empty dumpling skin. It was really messy to eat but also very fragrant, as the crab roe gave the dumpling strong umami flavours

Overall, they do have very good dumplings, and it was a pity I could not try other flavours or items on their menu. I do like their dumplings better than the Din Tai Fung ones, as they tasted very traditional and homemade, with the natural flavours of the ingredients coming through

Address: 90 Huanghe Rd, People’s Square, Huangpu, Shanghai, China, 200003

Opening hours: 9 am to 9.30 pm