Mongkok: Chopsticks please!

It was my best friend's official last day at work, and we decided to celebrate it together over a Chinese food dinner while contemplating on life's what-ifs and must-have-been.

On our way to Greenbelt

hot kalamansi juice since it was cold and raining outside

Mongkok's rice with mushrooms. Had I known it was this saucy I wouldn't have ordered it. I don't like too much sauce in my food. But it was still appetizing though.

Calamares

Sweet Tender Pork

Xiaolongbao is a type of steamed bun or baozi from the Jiangnan region of China, especially Shanghai and Wuxi. It is traditionally steamed in small bamboo baskets, hence the name (xiaolong is literally small steaming basket).Xiaolongbao are often referred to as soup dumplings or simply dumplings in English.

In the pantheon of Chinese cuisine, few foods inspire as much passion as xiao long bao. Begin your Chinese meal by ordering the famous XLB, which very few Chinese restaurants serve. Often referred to as ‘soup dumplings’, which actually is a steamed bun wherein the soup is right inside the bun. 

The question is: how did they get soup inside the dumpling?

Answer: The soup is solidified & added in lumps to the filling – this will then melt & form soup when the dumplings are steamed.

But for the less fanatic, the pursuit of XLB is simply about theater and sensory pleasure; the faintly sweet scent of hot bamboo as the steamer basket (the long in xiao long bao) arrives, and the dramatic whoosh of steam as the lid is lifted, revealing an array of symmetrically swirled sachets. Then, the best part: the heavy sag of the dumpling as you carefully maneuver it to your porcelain spoon, the tangy whiff of vinegar, and the burst of soup in that first bite. 

很好吃！很香！ （hen3 hao3 chi1！hen3 xiang1)！

Translation: "It's very yummy! Or it tastes great!"

Eating Xiao Long Bao is indeed an art which has a specific technique to it: with your porcelain spoon, be guided as follows, to eat and dip in its specialty sauce:

1 Hold chopsticks in your right hand and a spoon in your left.

2 Take the bun out of the bamboo basket and dip it in a soy sauce with ginger.

3 Put the bun on the spoon and bring it together with the chopsticks close to your mouth.

4 Bite a small hole in the bun's edge and place it back in the middle of the spoon.

5 While the soup flows out on the spoon, lift up the bun with the chopsticks.

6 Wait few seconds for the soup to cool off and then drink it.

7 After that you can dip the bun in the sauce again, if you like, it's optional.

8 Eat the xiaolongbao in one or two bites and enjoy the delicious flavor.

Mongkok's serving is bigger and affordable compared to other Chinese restaurants. Judging from the taste of their dishes I still prefer Mann Hann.