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Cheap Eats: Perfect Crab Xiaolongbao in People's Square

2017-12-05 ShanghaiWOWeng



With the autumn wind comes the crab season, and what better way to eat them than in a Xiaolongbao? These ones are quite exceptional, with people queuing all the way down the street just for a taste!

 


This Xiaolongbao place is a rising star in the Chinese culinary community. Tons of people come here specifically for the crab-stuffed xiaolongbao (笼蟹粉小笼). Each Xiaolongbao is stuffed full, and the thin skin even allows you to get a sneak peek at what’s inside.

 


There’s a small hole deliberately left on top where you can add vinegar, or you can suck out the soup before digging in. Because there’s so much crab in the Xiaolongbao, even the soup inside has turned orange!

 


If you pour out the soup and leave it for a bit, it turns into a gel-like consistency. If you poke it around with a chopstick, you can see the luscious crab that comprises it.

 


They all come with a serving of ginger silk vinegar on the side. Dip them in and try it for yourself!

 


We visited the kitchen and saw six huge pans filled with a bright red liquid. The boss said this is how much crab they go through in just a single day. If there’s any crab left over, it’s thrown away to ensure that only the freshest crab is used every day. This is about 200 pounds of crab!

 


As well as regular crab Xiaolongbao, they also offer crab paste Xiaolongbao (蟹膏小笼). They’re even more flavorsome than pure crab, but there’s virtually no fishy smell. Customers come from far all over to try these.

 


The kitchen is semi-open and from outside you can see two chefs preparing the dumplings. According to the boss, they have to start at four or five o’clock in the morning, and only get a quick break once in the afternoon!


In addition to crab... They also have a variety of yummy snacks.

 

Large crab and shrimp wontons (蟹粉虾仁大馄饨)

 

At first glance they look like any other bland wonton. But if you gently poke at them with a chopstick, you’ll notice the inside is bright orange. They’re best eaten hot and fresh from the kitchen!

 


Once you’ve bitten into them, you notice the abundance of crab and shrimp inside. The soup is also lovely with a bit of seaweed for extra flavor.

 


Freshly wrapped wontons are beautiful as well as delicious. Each wonton uses an entire shrimp!


Crab with rice and soup (蟹粉菜泡饭)

 

Although their served piping hot, you should eat it quickly before it cools down too much for ideal flavor and consistency.

 


You’re guaranteed to get plenty of crab meat with every single spoonful, as well as pickled cabbage.

 

 

At the moment, the xiaolongbao is the most popular dish on the menu, but the others are all selling out pretty quickly too!

 


Caicai Xiaolong (莱莱小笼)

How much: RMB 43

Where: 504 Tianjin Lu, near Guangxi Bei Lu, People’s Square district

Tel: 021-63520230


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