Winner of Crowd's Love Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant
最旺人气·南翔馒头店

Shanghai's City God Temple is commonly known as the snack kingdom, an old-fashioned marketplace where there is a multitudinous selection of local snacks. Among numerous food businesses, Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant is the most popular restaurant that got the best rating and attracted the most customers.

Former Canadian Governor-general Ray Hnatyshyn visited Shanghai on April 27th, 1994. While he was touring the City God Temple, the group walked past the take out window of Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant and saw a huge lineup of at least twenty people waiting. The former Governor-general went over to take a closer look out of curiosity, and he was very tempted to taste this famous Chinese snack himself. At the same time, the freshly steamed buns were brought to the counter and hot steams were escaping from the four sides of the steamers. The restaurant's assistant manager lifted the steamer lid and asked the Governor-general to sample a piece. The Governor-general smiled delightfully and used the chopsticks to pick up a Nanxiang Xiao Tang Bao. While thoroughly savoring the bun, the Governor-general gave great compliments. Later on as he was strolling along the Nine-Zig-Zag-Bridge and enjoying the beautiful views of the Mid-Lake Pavilion and the Lotus Pond, he was still thinking about the Nanxiang Xiao Long Bao. Through the interpreter, he said to the general manager of Yu Garden Market with admiration: this is the most delicious snack in the world. He also praised: "I didn't know Shanghai had such delicious snack!"

During the ten years from the beginning of China's Economic Reform to 1994, City God Temple Yu Garden Market had received visits from foreign government leaders, prominent politicians and almost 100 distinguished guests. However, Governor-general Ray Hnatyshyn was the only China's state guest who actually stood in front the counter for tasting. Hence, the story of how Nanxiang Xiao Long Bao earned favor from Canadian Governor-general has become a much-told tale.

Nanxiang Xiao Tang Bao was also called Nanxiang Xiao Long Bao, a snack invented during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty. It has a history of more than 130 years. During that era, a man from the town of Nanxiang of Jiading County named Mr. Wang opened a snack and dim sum eatery in Nanxiang called Rihuaxuan. The eatery specialized in selling many types of rice cakes. After owner Wang died from illness, his adopted son Wang Mingxian inherited the eatery and changed the rice cake business to a dim sum restaurant to sell Xiao Long Bao and dumplings. Xiao Long Bao was initially called Nanxiang Da Man Tou (it means Nanxiang Big Bun Stuffed with Pork) which was characterized by its thin dough skin, succulent meat fillings, savory flavor and the 14 pleats on the seal. The little buns became a popular food item among the locals. Afterwards, Wu Xiangsheng, a cousin of Wang Mingxian's daughter-in-law, became Wang's apprentice. Wu was very intelligent and capable, and he improved the techniques in making Nanxiang Da Man Tou. Soon Wu Xiangsheng left Rihuaxuan Restaurant and established a restaurant on his own in Nanxiang that specialized in making Xiao Long Bao. Owing to the meticulous preparation process, Wu's Xiao Long Bao eventually earned enormous popularity in Nanxiang and they were called "Nanxiang Xiao Long Bao" by the locals. However, as Nanxiang was a small town after all and was difficult to grow, Wu consulted with his family and decided to move to Shanghai. At that time, Shanghai was known as the capital of Southern China and the transportation hub linking the river and the sea.

In the 26th year of Emperor Guangxu's Reign (1900), Wu closed the restaurant in Nanxiang, and came to Shanghai with Xiao Long Bao expert Chef Zhao. By paying high rent, he leased the "Boat Hall" on the bank of the Lotus Pond in Shanghai City God Temple. There, he opened Changxing Steamed Bun Restaurant which specialized in making Nanxiang Xiao Long Bao. The Boat Hall looked like a leisure boat parked by the side of the Lotus Pond. From inside the restaurant, one could see the Mid-Lake Pavilion across the water. Sitting by the window and eating Xiao Long Bao was a unique and pleasurable experience. The Xiao Long Bao served at this restaurant had an exquisite appearance and delicious taste, and it provided a juicy treat with the first bite. Targeting at hordes of tourists and pilgrims coming to City God Temple, the owner had also prepared bamboo basket and lotus leaves to package Xiao Long Bao to provide a convenient solution for customers to take home and enjoy with family and friends or give as gifs.

After the founding of New China, City God Temple thrived and Nanxiang Xiao Long soared in popularity. The restaurant was also renamed from Changxinglou to Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant in the 1960s.

The Xiao Long Bao made by Nanxiang Restaurant does not use fermented dough. In fact, the dough is leavened by hand until an appropriate hardness is achieved. After steaming, the extremely thin dough skin turns translucent and displays a bright color. It is paper-thin yet it does not break. The texture is smooth and slightly chewy. The filling is made from ground pork which used to be chopped by hand with Chinese chopping knife in the old times. There are three chefs chopping port leg meat on a huge 75cm wooden chopping board. Through such a process, the filling is amazingly delicious, tender and supple. It was still very juicy without adding any meat aspic. The steamed bun has a shape of pagoda, translucent and crystalline, succulent and mouthwatering.

The making of Nanxiang Xiao Long Bao strictly adheres to its proven approach of using fat in the process. With every 50 grams of fat, 8 buns are made and each of them has approximately 20 pleats. The buns are cooked immediately. and brought to the table in a bamboo steamers and served with rice vinegar and shredded ginger on the side. They are recognized as one of the culinary wonders in Shanghai.

In 1992, the original Boat Hall was reconstructed into a three-story building of faux-classical architectural design of Ming and Qing Dynasties. The restaurant is on the second floor and the ground floor is used as the waiting room. The entire property was completed with upturned eaves, black tiles and brick walls. Moreover, the restaurant now offers an expanded variety of Xiao Long Bao, which has evolved from the original version of pork filling into a wide range of selections, such as Crab Meat Xiao Long, Crab Roe Xiao Long and Crab Roe and Shark Fin Xiao Long. The newly created Crab Roe and Shark Fin Xiao Long costs 88 Yuan per serving (6 buns) and has attracted many customers.

In 2003, Nanxiang Xiao Long formed a joint venture with Japanese company SOHOS to establish a "Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant" in Tokyo. Huge lines of customers appeared outside the restaurant and everyone was patiently waiting to taste the sensational Nanxiang Xiao Long Bao.

Pork Xiao Long Bao 鲜肉小笼包

The ingredients are flour, pork belly meat, chilled pork skin and other ingredients. Pork belly meat is first made into ground pork and then seasoned. The pork is mixed with water and chopped chilled pork skin to make the filling. The dough is made by mixing flour in cold water. It is then kneaded, combined with a bit of oil and compressed by hand into thin wrappers. The dough is wrapped around the fillings and the edges are pinched together to make a seal with pleats. Finally the buns are steamed in a bamboo steamer. The buns are characterized by the paper thin dough skin, generous fillings, succulent pork and savory flavor.

Crab Meat Xiao Long Bao 蟹黄小笼包

The main ingredients are flour, pork belly, chilled pork skin, river crab meat and other ingredients. First, crab meat and roes are removed from female river crabs. Pork belly meat is made into ground pork and seasoned. The pork is mixed with water and blended with chopped chilled pork skin, crab meat and crab roe to make the filling. The dough is made by mixing cold water with flour, which is then kneaded, dipped with a bit of oil and compressed by hand into thin wrappers. The dough is wrapped around the filling and the edges are pinched together to make the seal with pleats. Crab roes are pasted onto the seal of each bun which is then steamed until well done. The buns have paper-thin dough skins, abundant filling and are extremely juicy. These delightful buns are simply superb while the crab roes add an intense aroma.

Address: 159 Yuyuan Road

Telephone: 021-63559999-1461

Hours of Operation: 08:00-20:00