Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

While doing errands in Greenhills with my daughter Pipay, we happened to pass by Crystal Jade.  I have been wanting to try Xiao Long Bao for the longest time. But Pipay isn’t fond of Chinese cuisine and she wanted Jollibee. I told her, "Pipay, Mama is so hungry, I can eat a monkey, anything you like, except for Jollibee and Mcdo."  Indeed, I was starving, having forgotten to eat lunch and it's already 3PM. As a compromise, I let her pick where to eat (except Jollibee or Mcdo).  We had pasta and pizza at Pasto instead.  

 

On the way home, I couldn’t keep my mind off the Xiao Long Bao.  As we passed by Crystal Jade again, I told her, I’m going to buy one order to take home.  So I went inside the restaurant and placed my order.  I asked for any tips how to reheat. I was told to steam it. I thought that would be a major effort to steam 5 small dumplings.  I was thinking of reheating it via microwave which could burst the delicate dumplings. So I decided to dine in instead. 

One order of Xiao Long Bao has 5 dumplings (P158).  It came with a dark dipping sauce, black vinegar and  ginger.  The dumpling skin is thin enough to hold the flavorful  soup inside. 

 

The way to eat them is to carefully pick one with a chopstick, place it on a spoon for support, bite into the top skin and sip the soup then eat the minced meat like you would a siomai.  Or if one can handle an entire dumpling, you can take it in one bite and feel the soup burst its flavor inside the mouth (just be careful of the hot soup though). 

I really enjoyed Crystal Jade’s Xiao Long Bao, I will definitely be coming back for more.  Based on other food blogs I read, Crystal Jade has the best Xiao Long Bao in town.  I guess this will be my benchmark in rating the other restaurant's Xiao Long Bao.  

Can’t wait to try Café Lugang’s  and Choi Palace’s  versions.