The Food of Din Tai Fung

The food of Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 is often described as Shanghai-style dim sum. While this isn't a strictly accurate description, the way in which dishes are ordered and served is reminiscent of Cantonese dim sum. What I mean by this is ordering is done by filling in a form, and the meal consists of a number of small dishes that are intended to be shared.

Din Tai Fung's signature dish is xiao long bao (小籠包). These soup-filled dumplings are different class whether they're the standard pork ones or the posher pork & crab version (蟹粉小籠包).

Another favourite of mine is the glutinous rice & pork shao mai (糯肉燒賣). In case you're wondering, these shao mai are Shanghai-style and differ from the more familiar Cantonese-style.

Whilst most of Din Tai Fung's offerings are either Shanghainese or Taiwanese in origin, there is the odd interloper like these Sichuan-style wontons in chilli oil aka hong you chao shou (紅油抄手).

Moving away from the dumplings, I love the steamed chicken soup (元盅雞湯). This can also be ordered with a side of noodles to make a noodle soup dish.

If you need to carb-up, I recommend the shrimp & egg fried rice (蝦仁蛋炒飯), which is made with Taiwanese medium grain rice. Of the other savoury dishes, I like the Shanghai-style cold dishes, such as drunken chicken (醉雞), and I'm also partial to the stir-fried greens.

On more recent visits, I've finally got round to trying some sweet dishes such as steamed sesame buns (芝麻大包). What's not to love about these fluffy white buns with a melting black sesame filling?

For more on my experiences of Din Tai Fung, please check out my other blog, where there are reviews of my visits to the branches in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. And for links to further reviews by other bloggers, please click here.

Further Reading:
The Petition
About Din Tai Fung
Fans of Din Tai Fung
The Campaign