Taiwan Day 8: Din Tai Fung Sets Itself Apart from Others, Part 1 / 鼎泰豐特色真的不一樣, 第一集 (Taipei: Da An District / 台北市: 大安區)

I am a loyal Din Tai Fung fan.  I truly believe that this world famous dumpling house not only makes a higher quality, more delicately prepared xiaolongbao, but they create classic Chinese specialties that set themselves apart from their competitors.  I have been to the Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) locations in America close to 200 times, and I have eaten at the flagship locations in Taipei on every visit to Taiwan.  The food and service have been so consistent that of these hundreds of times, I have never once said that one visit was better or worse than the other.  Here are some of the things that DTF really does differently.  (See the post from my previous visit here.)

First, the restaurant uses bamboo steamers at the locations in Taiwan and the rest of Asia.  This apparently does not meet the regulations in the United States because there is a chance of developing mold on the wood, thereby resulting in unsanitary conditions for the prized dumpling.  Also, the liner used in Taiwan is a reusable silk sheet rather than the disposable sheet of parchment paper that is dotted with holes.  The combination of the silk and the bamboo allow for a more even distribution of steam heat in the container.  With the parchment paper and steel containers used elsewhere, the steam is funnels through the predestined paths that the holes provide in streams that may not cook the dumplings as evenly as it could be.

Next, they offer black truffle juicy pork dumplings (松露小籠包) on the menu at certain locations.  This, in comparison to the dumpling house that places edible gold on top of their juicy pork dumplings, is actually an affordable luxury that patrons look forward to for an indulgent meal.  The truffles are not simply ground into flecks and blended with the meat, an entire slice is placed atop the round of pork before wrapping into 18 delicate folds.

The ever popular hot and sour soup (酸辣湯) is a world of difference here at Din Tai Fung.  The restaurant focuses on creating truly delicate flavors, so the soup here is neither spicy nor sour.  It is a very mild blend of quality tofu, bean sprouts, wood ear fungus, and get this... slivers of congealed duck blood.  I have not yet come across any other hot and sour soup with duck blood so stealthily concealed within the ribbons of egg drop.  The hint of sweet and tangy black vinegar that adorns the top of the soup eases the diner into the taste of this classic dish rather than slapping the heat and acidity right into the taste buds.

The shrimp fried rice (蝦仁蛋炒飯) is one of the best takes on traditional Chinese fried rice in the world.  I can easily count the ingredients used on one of my hands.  There is nothing more than scrambled egg and green onion that have been wok tossed feverishly over and over again with the grains of white rice until each ingredient has been rightfully separated from each other.  Did you notice that the grains of rice are still white? Din Tai Fung has successfully made a tasteful fried rice without using any of that black tarnish that we call soy sauce.  Not a single drop.  Amazing.

There are many more dishes that are easily distinguished and worth exploring... the potstickers happen to be one of them.  Luckily for me, the potstickers that come served with flaps of pork essence grilled to a thin crisp are coming to the Glendale branch at The Americana in California soon.  You can bet there will be a post on just that.  Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐)

台北市大安區信義路二段194號 

No. 194, Xinyi Rd., Section 2, Da An District, Taipei City

MRT: Dongmen Station, exit no. 5 /捷運東門站, 5號出口

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Taiwan - Din Tai Fung Black Truffle Juicy Pork Dumplings / 鼎泰豐松露小籠包 (Taipei: Da An District / 台北市: 大安區)

Being a food tour guide that specializes in Taiwanese dumplings in Arcadia means that I get to eat the juicy pork dumplings (xiaolongbao / 小籠包) from Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) virtually every weekend while on tour.  Guests on tour often ask me if there is anything different between the Din Tai Fung dumpling house in Arcadia and the original Din Tai Fung restaurant in Taipei.  The first thing that I say since my return from Taipei is that the DTF in Taipei is the only store (as of now) with black truffle juicy pork dumplings (松露小籠包).

These black truffle xiaolongbao come five per long, or five dumplings per bamboo steamer.  Each steamer of five delicately wrapped dumplings are 450 NTD, which amounts to roughly 15 USD.  If there are five dumplings per steamer, and each steamer is 15 dollars, then each bite-sized dumpling is just about three American dollars each.  Those are some expensive dumplings.  They had better be worth it.

I can now tell you from personal experience that three dollars per dumpling is worth every bite.  From the moment the server delivers the dainty delights, you know they're special.  The server instructs not to douse these dumplings in the black vinegar that is typically used as a dipping sauce for the xiaolongbao.  Heaven forbid that we use soy sauce on them too.  Instead, the server advises to take a sip of hot tea in order to cleanse the palate.  Wash away any remnant of cucumber or seaweed appetizer that may have lingered behind.  Just one bite, he says... and beware... they're hot!



In this one bite, the subtle flavors of buttery truffle oil permeate through the tender yet firm pork and travel up through your nostrils while hitting every single pleasure sensing nerve within your oral and nasal cavities.  If you go against what the server advises and take just a mere half bite instead, you would know that the little black specks in the dumpling are causing this sensory overload in your mouth.  And you would definitely know that these little black specks are not black pepper.  They are the shaved black truffle pieces, and they are the reason why you are charging this meal to your credit card.

If you are lucky you might spot a large shaving of black truffle within one of the five dumplings.  And it might look like the dumpling is sticking its tongue out at those who have not yet experienced the indulgent taste of steamed black truffle juicy pork dumplings.  It might.

Let's face it though.  Even though the black truffle juicy pork dumplings make you feel like the caviar consuming first class passengers on the Titanic, you can only afford perhaps two steamers of those suckers before you realize you're still going to go home hungry.  Well, if you're here for dumplings, you have to settle on the house specialty of regular juicy pork dumplings.  These come ten per long at a much affordable price, although pricey for Taiwanese standards.  And of course, the regular xiaolongbao can be dipped into the black vinegar.  The vinegar's tangy taste contrasts the dumpling's overall savory flavor to bring out the sweetness for the pork.  And all I can taste inside the dumpling is succulent pork soup.  No buttery truffle? How boring.

In case some readers aren't able to tell, that's a speckle of sarcasm.  The house specialty is an absolutely unparalleled steamed pork dumpling.  However, I will tell you I would have much rather had finished all the regular xiaolongbao before moving onto to the fancy flavors of its truffled cousin.  An anti-climatic meal is slightly disheartening.

But I must give credit to Din Tai Fung for putting this winning addition on the menu.  A product that has been dug up by French pigs and then later infused into fresh Taiwanese pig? Well, that's a somewhat cannibalistic double pork whammy! Did they get this idea from the company mascot, a seemingly happy xiaolongbao that courageously serves up a steamer of ten miniature versions of itself? What will they think of next?

Before that question gets answered, though, do yourself a favor and drop by the original Din Tai Fung store on Xinyi Road in Taipei.  And I would suggest you hurry.  Because oolong-milktea loves his Din Tai Fung, and he loves his truffle.  And oh, he can eat up a storm.  If he gets there before you do, there's a high chance you're going home hungry.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐)

台北市大安區信義路二段194號, 永康街口
Taipei City, Da An District, Xinyi Road, Section 2, No. 194

Intersection of Yong Kang St.

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Post 31: Six Taste Food Tours - Delicious Dumpling

Another weekend... another tour!

I truly enjoy meeting the guests on my food tours every weekend.  Guests have different backgrounds, similar interests, and hail from all parts of the country.  I've had guests attend the tour who live within walking distance (right behind Din Tai Fung) and as far away as Hawaii and New York.

This weekend a hip mom and her cool kid came on the Delicious Dumpling tour in Arcadia.  It turns out this hip mom is an avid blogger.  What's hip mom's blogging alias? Black Belt Momma! And yes, she happened to be wearing a very chic black belt at the time.

You can read her blog entry about the tour here.

Karen and Ryan, thank you again for coming on the tour.  Hope to see you on another tour soon!

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Post 26.4: Vancouver - Day 1 (Lunch)

Lunch: Sumo-sized, sumo-style juicy pork dumplings

After a fully-loaded breakfast, Amanda and I did as much digestion as we could.  Our digestion workout included:

(1) looking for dramas - specifically Taiwanese and Korean dramas at the small Chinese-owned DVD store downstairs from East No. 1 Seafood Restaurant...

(2) finding unique potato chips - and gasping at the many odd (and ever-so-cool) varieties of President's Choice brand potato chips at the Real Canadian Superstore...

(3) shopping - getting lost in racks of clothing and tables of shoes at J2... I really shouldn't have bought anything because my luggage was about to burst, but I couldn't walk away from this jacket (orig. CAD 260 on sale for CAD 60).  Yeah, like I was about to let that one go?

Miniature baskets on wheels! Shoppers await their fresh fish... it's oddly cute.

My guide thought it was strange to take a picture of this.

(4) grocery shopping - at T&T Supermarket (Canada's largest Chinese/Asian supermarket chain... it's their version of our 99 Ranch Market)... but we bought nothing more than Canadian maple nougats and imported Japanese Kit Kats.  Did I mention we took advantage of the endless samples of ramen, potstickers, and bottled tea? We took a step back in our goal of digestion here...

(5) singing - Amanda has a 20-track compilation of Mariah Carey classics and remixes in her car... it's hard to resist when "Always Be My Baby" starts playing...

But enough digestion! It was time for lunch!

We jumped from Metrotown across the street to the food court at Crystal Mall for some inexpensive (AKA really good prices) eats.  Crystal Mall's food court offers everything from traditional Cantonese-style BBQ pork and duck to Malaysian noodles to Taiwanese beef noodle soup to spicy hot pot to fresh juice bars.  The variety is pretty impressive, but the xiaolongbao (juicy pork dumplings) from Wang's Shanghai Cuisine impressed me even more.  It's no wonder Wang's won an award from the annual Edgewater Casino Chinese Restaurant Awards for best Food Court Dish.

The lonely stand.

Wang's is located in the far corner of Crystal Mall's food court.

Many a foodie has had (or has heard of) juicy pork dumplings before.  A good majority of juicy pork dumpling lovers have had the little baos from Din Tai Fung, arguably one of the most famous proprietors of Taiwanese-style juicy pork dumplings.  But while Din Tai Fung wraps a dainty and delicate dumpling, Wang's dumpling is pure power.

Jiggling mountain of pork.  A Wang's employee wraps the dumplings by hand.

She also thought it was strange to take a picture.

DTF's dumpling is like the princess who bruised from sleeping on a pea hidden underneath 100 mattresses.  She's prone to breakage, and one mistaken poke in a sensitive area could mean a burst of burning juices.  Regardless, her feminine daintiness is alluring, and the waft of her fragrance tempts you to find out what else is underneath her skin.

The pleasurable palm-sized dumplings.

Wang's skin is thicker than Din Tai Fung's but still easily breakable.

Wang's dumpling is more like a sumo wrestler.  It's huge... it's meaty... and it jiggles like Jello.  Trying not to break the skin, although slightly easier to prevent than at DTF, is still tough... because no matter what, you don't want to rub a sumo wrestler the wrong way.  One wrong nudge for Wang's dumpling could spell a collapse of dumpling skin and a disastrous deluge of pork juices... and one wrong nudge for Yokozuma could mean that you're lying under endless folds of sumo skin and sumo sweat.  Eek.

Logically and tastily sound.

The dumplings come with an extra bowl for the sole purpose of catching leaking juices.

Dainty or powerful, princess or sumo, Din Tai Fung or Wang's... the differences are clear.  But what they do have in common is that they're both GOOD AS HELL.  What I will say, though, is that because Wang's dumplings are that much bigger, my soup spoon was thoroughly filled to the brim with pork juices.  Ahhhh... slurping that up was comforting yet unnervingly addicting at the same time.

Soup for slurping. 

At times, the spoon is not big enough to hold the entirety of pork juices.

Wang's was so good, in fact, that I returned on the final day of the trip to have two more long (steamers) of the award-winning xiaolongbao.... and some of their Shanghai-style noodles, a soup-noodle that is prepared with potatoes, carrots, and soy beans.  The noodles are a bit harder to enjoy if you haven't grown up on them, but the local specialty surely provides a comforting hug for those who are homesick for Shanghai.

Shanghai homestyle noodles.

The noodles are buried under a heap of diced potatoes, carrots, and soy beans.

Finishing all those baos meant just one thing... another battle with digestion.  So? Some more tortoise-paced walking around Crystall Mall... digestion will ensue 'til the next meal...

Read Chowhound's article on Crystal Mall's Asian food court here.

Next post: Uniquely Canadian potato chips

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