Street Food- Shanghai Dumplings

One sunny Sunday afternoon, our friend P guided us to a back alley for pedestrians only (this means that only some bicycles and mopeds came through) for a taste of local street food. There were lots of vendors and the products ranged from skewers of meat and fish, to fresh vegetable juice. But the reason for our trip to this hidden place, was to sample the best Shanghai style dumplings in town.

This particular company has been in business for many years. Our friend P came to eat here as a young girl. It makes thousands of these dumplings per day (the photos covering the creation of the dumplings were too fuzzy to post). Upon her recommendation, we stood in one line to pay, and then in another line to get them.

It is a production that involves many people. The dumpling dough is in one large lump on a wooden topped table and one or two people pinch off a small amount of dough that they pass on to the next person. This second person grabs a spoonful of the ground meat (pork with all kinds of secret ingredients), and fills the dough and pinches into a dumpling. The dumplings are loaded on a tray, later to be inserted in a giant wok. The cooks coat the bottom of the pan with oil, carefully place as many dumplings as will fit in the pan, and put the lid on it. This is what characterizes the Shanghai dumpling: it is crispy on the bottom, while the rest is steamed to perfection. At one point, the cook lifts the lid and throws a handful of sesame seeds on them. One order is 6 dumplings and it costs 3.5RMB (so something like 50 cents USD). To eat it, you must make a small incision in the dumpling with your chopsticks, slurp the juice out (and avoid burning your tongue), and then eat the remainder in as many bites as you feel comfortable. They are a bit heavy by themselves, but with a side order of some green vegetables and maybe a glass of fruit/vegetable juice, they would make a satisfying meal.

[Photos taken by JCS]