DIY Dumplings at Taste of Shanghai | World Square

We love Taste of Shanghai and you can tell it's quite obviously our top selection for Xiao Long Bao and Pan Fried Pork Buns - this will be our 4th post (excluding our late night takeaway orders from Hurstville), just to make sure you understand how serious we are about Taste of Shanghai. While we haven't been to Shanghai or China, we are sure that the taste is authentic because of the traditional techniques that are used to create these amazing signature dishes. You would want to visit Taste of Shanghai with family or friends to try as much as possible as we were privileged to try below. Before we begin our feast, we had the opportunity to learn from the experts in a DIY Dumpling Class.

DIY Dumplings

Xiao Long Bao

We had a little giggle at how ridiculous our creation looked. In the collage above, the left hand side was mine and right hand side was Matt's. Clearly we should stay away from attempting to make Xiao Long Bao and instead stick to enjoying them from the sideline (table) - and of course letting you all know how great they are!

Pork and Chive

Okay, this one was much easier and less tricky to make. Simply fold the dumpling in half and squish the edges together. I think we can recreate these dumplings with more practice. Only if we knew what went into the pork and chive mix. It's so simple and served with vinegar and soy sauce on the side. Simplicity at its best.

Alright, let the feast begin...

Pan Fried Pork Buns

We order this every time we get takeaway from Taste of Shanghai. We love the crispy base and the fluffy texture of the bun. We have worked out the most practical way to eat these without the juice inside spilling all over your shirt. Simply pinch the top of the bun so it creates a sizeable hole to allow the bun to cool down, as well as let you pour vinegar and soy sauce onto the meat. Be warned, if you attempt to bite into it, your tongue will burn! Wait for it to cool down (you're welcome)

Shrimp And Chive Dumplings

These little gems are full of flavour. It's moist and served incredibly hot. Again, while it is tempting to dig in early, wait for the dumpling to cool down. The shrimps are also a surprise. You can literally taste each piece of shrimp opposed to other dumplings where it is blended together with the mix.

Wonton In Red Chilli Oil Sauce

We don't tolerate chilli well, especially concentrated chilli oil. However, this dish was different. We enjoyed the red chilli oil sauce (which wasn't too spicy) but when combined with the vinegar sauce, it slowly kicked in. Again, we don't know how Taste of Shanghai does it but it must be in their cooking technique. Every single dumpling, wonton, baos...the list can go on and on but in the end, they are all cooked to perfection.

Grilled Spring Onion Pancakes

This was a crowd favourite for sure. The minute everyone photographed dishes, it was gone. I appreciate how the grilled spring onion pancakes were cooked but when I cook mine, I prefer it more crispy and somewhat with burnt corners (clearly, you know why I'm not a chef)

Peking Style Shredded Pork And Pancakes

Hello, we think we have another 'must order' dish from Taste of Shanghai. I actually prefer these over the real 'peking duck' pancake. The pork was so soft and tender and was perfectly coated with that thick, peking sauce. I love the twist on the typical peking duck pancake for sure.

Spicy Diced Chicken

When this dish arrived at the table, I gasped a little bit. I put by brave face on and attempted to try the chicken. In my head, the chilli got to me. But strangely enough, the chicken was not too hot. Don't let this dish stray you away from ordering it, it kind of tasted like popcorn chicken with a mild kick to it. The chilli is just presented as a disguise and a flavour enhancement.

Crispy Duck With Chinese Wraps

The thing that distinguishes a Chinese restaurant from a Western one is the way meat is served. At most Western places, any type of meat would be deboned (hallelujah) however, Chinese restaurants serve it with bones. I don't know about you but we do prefer our meat deboned so we don't get that nasty surprise when biting into it (don't even get me started with fish bones...) 

Fish Fillet In Spicy Chilli Oil

Speaking of fish, I decided to try a little bit from this dish because it looked ridiculously hot and I was intrigued...lets just say their track record is now 2-1 when it comes to the heat factor in their "chilli" dishes. I had a spoonful and went straight for icy cold water. My curiosity can sometimes cause me grief. 

Sizzling Garlic Prawns 

 The prawns were prepared well and each prawn still had the mildly crunchy texture to them, cooked just right! While there wasn't any sauce, they had nice aromatic - yet subtle flavours and was well enjoyed.

Salt And Pepper King Prawns

Just when we thought we were all prawned out - these little babies came out. There are too many options to select a "best dish of the night" but this is clearly in the running. These salt and pepper king prawns were on point and we loved every bite. We tried to take a couple extra pieces, but before we knew it they were all gone! Perhaps because these were deep fried, we loved it just that little bit more.

Eggplant And Pork Mince In Sweet Chilli Vinegar

Chilli seems to be free flowing at Taste of Shanghai. I previously tried this dish and absolutely loved it. I couldn't wait to dig in and reminisce the bold flavours. I also love eggplant (when cooked well of course) so it's evident that this was one of my favourite dish.

Special Spicy Fried Rice

We almost religiously order the XO fried rice from Taste of Shanghai so we've never selected another fried rice dish. Not because we don't want to try new dishes but because the XO fried rice is amazing. We're glad to have the opportunity to sample the spicy fried rice but at the same time, we will have a hard time deciding our regular takeaway order from now on.

Thank you again Wasamedia for the invitation to dine at Taste of Shanghai.