Dumplings and Check Ups

It's been 6 years since I've stepped foot in my favorite chain restaurant (I am not generally a fan of chain restaurants at all), but Din Tai Fung is in a class of it's own. The menu is relatively small and manageable, and the specialty of Xiao Long Bao (soupy dumplings) is done in an exemplary fashion. They do not have one in Chongqing, but they do have them in Shanghai (more than one), Beijing, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, L.A., Seattle, Guangzhou, Sydney, and I don't remember where else.

They have the basic pork, then pork with hairy crab, mushroom medley, chicken with truffles (this is a new one I hadn't seen before, must try!), and a few others I can't recall. We ordered the basic pork and the pork and hairy crab. Plus two of my favorite veg dishes : the crispy green beans, and the wild greens with preserved bean curd. Woohooo! If you have never had a xiao long bao, the technique is to gently pinch the bao from the top with your chopsticks (maybe there are many techniques actually, this is mine) land it on your soup spoon without letting the soupiness in the dumpling spill out or crack through the thin layered dumpling, add a sliver of thin sliced ginger, a splash of soy and/or dark vinegar, and some la jiao/chile if you are so inclined. Then, either gently make a hole with your mouth on the side of the soupy dumpling in order to release some steam (they can be HOT) followed by slurping some soup and the whole thing at once, or you can forgo the caution and open wide - in it goes, bite, chew, salty soup in your mouth.

This all made up for the next day's insane medical check up for our resident permit. I have no pictures to share as I doubt they would have appreciated me snapping away there. You go into room 1 where you fill out all your paperwork first, ensuring you don't have any diseases or even a flu. Then, you go into room 2 and 3, and they ask you a few questions I can't even recall now. They stamp the paperwork, take an unflattering picture with a camera that looks like a futuristic eyeball coming at you from below your chin, great, and herd you into the room 4. There, they weigh you on this giant cattle-like scale which tells your height and weight, send you into the changing room to disrobe your top half and out into rooms 5-12 or something like that. In reality it was rooms 108, room 102, all very confusing.

S had to wear a teeny tiny robe made for a teeny tiny Chinese woman and it was so hilarious I almost died (also wish I could have snapped a picture but doubt he would have appreciated it on here, so you'll just have to imagine the scenario). He had it tied up around his armpits practically. None of the other foreigners looked that much better, including me. You're all sitting with your paperwork in hand getting thrown into one room after the other where they apply clamps, do ultrasounds, take xrays, draw blood, call you fat (it seems we all got this, unfortunately), palpate your abdomen, and do an eye test I don't think anyone can pass. It was letters that were miniscule. Or maybe my eyes are that bad.

Needless to say, hope our paperwork was processed smoothly and we aren't denied a visa for being too fat or too myopic! Must cut back on xiao long bao and stop using the computer.