Fried Dumplings

There are quite a few places in Chengdu to get shengjianbao, a snack food more closely associated with Shanghai. The secret to getting good shengjianbao is to pass by when a fresh pan is just being uncovered. Wait a few minutes until they cool off enough to eat, then enjoy.

This little shop has the best I've had in the city so far, even though the filling is not as good as the shengjianbao in Shanghai. The browned parts of these bao were very crunchy and the dumplings weren't too crowded so they were browned well up their sides. At four dumplings to one yuan, they are a bargain. The shop also sells things like soup dumplings (tang bao), nest buns (wowo tou), and sticky rice dumplings (shao mai). Whatever is fresh should be good; don't bother with anything that has been sitting off the steam too long.



Location: #7-4 West Guojiaqiao St, which runs south of Chuan Da south gate, between river and second ring
郭家桥 西街 ７号4