Hello! I recently traveled to Taipei (台北, Táiběi) for Taiwan’s October 10th National Day holiday, and I got to dine at one of the world's most famous restaurants: Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐, Dǐng Tài Fēng). What began in 1958 as a small shop selling cooking oil quickly expanded into a world-famous brand best known for its soup dumplings. Din Tai Fung now has locations all across the world. Today, join me as we learn not only about the ingredients in each dish, but also the deeply rooted experience, culture and origins behind them.
The meal started off with small cold dishes, including spicy cucumbers, crunchy pickled cabbage, drunken chicken, wood-ear mushroom salad and braised eggplant. It is very common in Taiwanese cuisine to begin with servings of small-portioned cold appetizers. Once we finished the appetizers, it was onto the star of the show: the world-famous soup dumplings, often referred to as Xiaolongbao (小籠包). Translated directly as “little basket buns,” Xiaolongbao are small steamed dumplings that contain pork broth and soup inside, served in round bamboo baskets.
