Food in China: Suzhou Noodles & Xiao Long Bao

This marks the first blog post about food abroad! I am going to start of with Suzhou, though I actually went to Hefei first but I cannot wait to blog about this place first because it is the place I tasted the best Xiao Long Bao in the world. Thankfully for Wikipedia, you can check out the definition of this glorious little white bun stuffed with meat here. I did not get a chance to taste the Xiao Long Bao in Shanghai (which is apparently where it originated from) but Suzhou is close enough so I am happy. It was a rainy day and we just finished touring the Humble Administrator Garden. We settled on one of the little shops down the road from the garden for lunch and it was the best lunch I had in China. Pics below! *drools*

This is the restaurant we ate at. We decided on this place because the tour guide was eating here...If you can read Chinese then you'll know the name of the place. I unfortunately can't read Chinese so I can't help translate.

Xiao Long Bao. The difference with Xiao Long Bao's in Malaysia is the size! The Malaysian version is often tiny and the pastry tends to be more to the hard side..and sometimes oily too. This one here is fluffy and soft on the outside and generously stuffed with pork. It was so worth it and delicious, I kept craving for it when I got back. 

This is the inside, the right amount of meat meets the right amount of dough. 

Here's the Suzhou Mien (Noodle). I am not sure if the weather was cold or this was just too good. When I tasted it..it felt...so good. The soup was hot which is perfect for freezing rainy weather and it was definately flavourful. The noodles were also thick and springy. I miss this already...why don't they have this in Malaysia?!

Of course the noodles came with meat to accompany. You can choose from a variety of pork, beef and lamb. I chose the lamb because eating lamb in winter keeps you warm! The lamb was also full of flavour, just like the noodles. Unfortunately, I ate so much I couldn't finish the noodles (the portion is huge!) but it kept me contented for the whole afternoon. I guess this is how a foodgasm feels like.....

The interior of the restaurant. 

That's the end of this post. My next post is going to be about "Fine Dining" in Northern China.

To view my travelogue on Suzhou, please click here.

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