Photo Sundays: The Din Tai Fung Trilogy – Singapore, Taipei and Hong Kong

I’ve heard a lot about Din Tai Fung and how their xiao long baos (steamed pork dumplings with soup/broth inside) are supposedly the best. They have branches all over the world, but only one in Australia, in Sydney, so I have never been. I found out that there is a Din Tai Fung in Singapore, Taipei (where it originated) and Hong Kong, so I made it a point to go visit the restaurant in every country on my holiday!

To me, a good xiao long bao has to have a thin skin, but thick enough to make sure it doesn’t break and the tasty broth remains inside the dumpling. The minced pork should be juicy and flavoursome. Din Tai Fung describes the xiao long bao as containing “minced pork wrapped in a delicate dough skin, which is then pleated, twisted at the top and steamed.” Apparently the melt in the mouth skin has a “minimum of 18 exquisite folds”.

Food is cheap in Taipei, so out of the three branches I visited, Taipei was the cheapest. I also think it was the best in terms of the xiao long bao. The skin was delicately thin, the minced pork filling was soft and the broth was full of flavour. We also discovered the shrimp and pork wontons with spicy sauce in Taipei and they are definitely another must order dish if you go to Din Tai Fung.

Part I – Din Tai Fung, Singapore

Din Tai Fung
Wisma Atria
435 Orchard Road, #02-48 (Level 2), Singapore
Nearest MRT: Orchard Station

Inside Din Tai Fung, Singapore.
Singapore had the nicest interior out of the three countries. There are a ridiculous 12 branches in Singapore!!

Snow pea shoots with garlic
I find vegetables a bit of a waste of stomach space, but while on holidays we need our vegies. These were more stems than leaves and quite woody.

Sliced duck in crispy spring onion pastry
These were a speciality and not available in the other countries. It’s really a fancy spring roll, but I liked the presentation.

Steamed pork dumplings – xiao long bao 6 pieces
You could order them in 6 piece or 10 piece portions. Morsels of juicy goodness!

Pork chop on fried rice
Not something I would usually order, but I read this is a must order dish. Pork chop was so tender without the fake bi-carb flavour. I wonder how they can get it so tender. It had a tasty marinade too.



Part II – Din Tai Fung, Taipei

Din Tai Fung Zhongxiao
No. 218, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Road, Daan District, Taipei City
Nearest MRT: Zhongxiao Dunhua station (blue line), Exit 3

The Din Tai Fung Dumpling Mascot!
Din Tai Fung was founded in Taipei in 1958, with the original branch at Xinyi Road. We chose the Zhongxiao branch because it was the closest to a train station.

There’s even a Din Tai Fung souvenir shop!

Inside Din Tai Fung, Taipei
It’s rare to see such an empty Din Tai Fung, but we were one of the first customers to arrive at 4pm when they re-opened after the lunch crowd.

Guide to how to eat a xiao long bao
I love how they gave you these guides on xiao long bao eating etiquette! I normally put some sauce in my spoon, followed by the dumpling, then nibble a small hole in the dumpling to suck out the soup, then eat the dumpling.

Necessary xiao long bao condiments: soy sauce, black vinegar and thinly sliced ginger. According to the guide, the correct ratio is 3 parts vinegar to 1 part soy sauce.

Green beans with minced pork
I was a bit surprised that this dish was served cold. I saw the waitress weighing each of the entrée dishes – very accurate!

Steamed pork dumplings – xiao long bao
All the dumplings are steamed on a thin muslin cloth so you can carefully remove the dumplings without them sticking.

Pork & glutinous rice shao mai
We ordered these because we had never seen them before. I wouldn’t bother next time. I found them quite bland.

Shrimp & pork wonton with spicy sauce
Plump juicy wontons with a thin, silky skin served with an amazing spicy chilli sauce. It wasn’t that spicy, but it was so flavoursome.

Crispy fried pork dumplings
We were quite full already, but we wanted to try these dumplings. The filling was average, but what made the dumplings was the thin, crispy base. We saved the chilli sauce from the wontons to have with these too!



Part III – Din Tai Fung, Hong Kong

Din Tai Fung
Shop 130, 3rd Floor, Silvercord
No. 30 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong
Nearest MTR: Tsim Sha Tsui Exit A1

Inside Din Tai Fung, Hong Kong
This is the first branch that has been awarded a Michelin star. There are only two branches in Hong Kong so both get very crowded. We went at almost 10pm (they close at 10.30pm) and the restaurant was still packed.

Snow pea shoots with garlic
The token vegies. This was very garlicky but nice.

Steamed pork dumplings – xiao long bao
These were more generously sized than the ones in Singapore and Taipei. I would rate these second to Taipei.

Braised beef noodles
We missed out trying good beef noodles in Taipei, so hubby wanted to order this. Noodles were nice and beef was tender, but I didn’t like the flavour of the soup.

Shrimp & pork wonton with spicy sauce
We had to get these again. They were better in Taipei, but these were still very good.

Over & Out, April xx