Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao @ Great World City

With the craving for Xiao Long Bao re-ignited from visiting Nanxiang, dinner choice for tonight is easy 😉

3 major establishments came to mind: 1) Din Tai Fung, 2) Nanxiang and 3) Crystal Jade. I do not recall eating the Xiao Long Bao at Crystal Jade and hence that was where I went.

I left the ordering of the food to my dinner companion as I stepped out to grab some buns that were on offer for breakfast. For those who do not know, Crystal Jade slashes the prices of the breads and buns by 20% after 8.30pm. If you happen to be out late and there is a Crystal Jade Bakery nearby, you can consider getting some breakfast items there. 🙂

Today’s appetizer is braised Peanuts. These peanuts are moreish and prepare your stomach for the goodies that are yet to come.

This unappetising looking dish is actually very delicious! A perfect dish to go with a mug of ice cold beer! Hahah..  Want to know what it is? It is something very crispy and healthy! Cripsy Eel in Wu Xi Style ($8.50). I have no idea what Wu Xi style means but the eel tasted great and they are so crispy that you cannot help but keep popping one after another into your mouth. The shredded cucumber at the bottom provides a refreshing full stop to the dish. 🙂

The Steamed Soupy Pork Dumpling ($5 for 5 pieces), aka Xiao Long Bao, comes in a fixed order of 5 pieces in a basket. It is called the “one mouth Xiao Long Bao”一口小笼包 as the size is just nice for one mouthful. A word of warning  –  the soup in the pork dumpling is super hot and you do not want to pop the whole thing into your mouth when it is just served!

You have to be really careful in picking up these delicate dumplings as their skin is so thin that all the goodness in the dumpling will be lost if you break the skin. The proper way of eating it is to bite a small hole in the skin, suck out the soup in the dumping, then eat the remainder with shredded ginger and vinegar or just have it plain. The first taste I had of the soup in this steamed pork dumpling was that it is a tad salty. However, it is also very tasty so much so that you just cannot get enough of it. 😛

This is the inside of the dumpling, after I has sucked out all the soup in the dumpling. ;P A tiny lump of pork wrapped in a super thin flour skin. YUM!

Crystal Jade does a good job of La Mian (拉面), directly translated to Pulled Noodles. This is the Soup Noodle with Minced Pork and Vegetable Wanton Soup ($7.50). It may look simple but the skill that goes into pulling the noodle till they are all of even thickness is definitely not simple!

Close up of the Noodle and Wanton. The noodle is silkily smooth that you will slurp it all up in no time. The broth has this familiar fragrance that brings back childhood memories. There were 4 pieces of wanton in the soup and the entire combination makes for a good dinner.

As my Xiao Long Bao craving was not satisfied, I ordered another basket to share. 😛 We had to wait while the dumplings were freshly prepared. The soup in this basket of dumplings tasted sweet and savoury.

Close up of the many folds that sealed the skin of the steamed pork dumplings.  After downing 6 Xiao Long Baos, I had fully satisfied my cravings. That should be all the Xiao Long Bao for this month 😛

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao  翡翠拉面小笼包

1 Kim Seng Promenade,

#02-43,Great World City

Singapore 237994

Tel: 67385595

Open Daily 11am-10pm

Last order at 9.30pm