China lili | 05 Dec 2006 02:15 am
sheng dian mantou
In search of breakfast we stumbled across this restaurant, dumpling stand out the front, noodles and rice on the inside. We ordered rice dishes for sustenance and some dumplings for fun. The mains were boring, turns out the dumplings were the main event.
A herd of workers just behind the dumpling area were making these beauties production line style, and it was necessary as the queues were enormous.
4 dumplings for 5Y. These are fried, allowing the bottoms (actually the dumpling seals) to crisp up and the insides and top wrapping to steam. Filled with pork, the highlight is in their crunchy and slightly greasy fried underside.
We managed to eat only 4 each (i had to buy a second batch for photographing), but it seemed the norm was 8 per person.
These filling mantou are perfect on a cold Shanghai morning, just greasy enough, the meaty insides spiked with warming ginger and a little hot soupy liquid. The technique with these babies is to bite a small hole in the side and suck the liquid out before devouring the remainder.
Maybe we will have more for breakfast this morning.
on 05 Dec 2006 at 6:00 am 1.kent said …
I reckon you’re finally really exploring and discovering when things go wrong and new plans get made on the spot. These new plans aren’t corrupted by the “old you” from back in Sydney. Does this make sense?
Mmmmm dumplings!!!!!!!!
on 06 Dec 2006 at 6:37 am 2.Pmum said …
I agree Kent-unexpected & unplanned ‘out-of-comfort-zone in unknown zones’ experiences can hone a razor edge on the scalpel of self knowing.
mmmm crispy dumplings- slurpy, steamy - and you’all could only manage 4?
just don’t cut too deep. is “sheng dian mantou” a place, a greeting or the dumpling? will refer to map - love Pmum
on 07 Dec 2006 at 1:37 am 3.lili said …
Hi Kent,
Yes it makes sense and is completely right. It is interesting to see what one will do in such a situation and really it was tiring, but kind of fun.
The dumplings are excellent.
Hi Pmum,
haha thats excellent! my scalpel is getting sharper and sharper. We had 4 each, as well as our main breakfast meals. Sheng Dian Mantou is the name of the dumpling. We had them on North Sichuan Rd (Sichuan Nanlu).
love
l.
on 13 Jul 2008 at 1:39 am 4.Shanghai Night said …
[…] Schallot Pancake I’ve been itching to get to Shanghai Night in Ashfield ever since I got back from China, so that I could revisit these amazing dumplings. (I really have to stop looking at that blog, I just want to pack up and move to China). […]