It's been more than a year now since my introduction to xiao long bao, and my enthusiasm for this Chinese dim sum is still as strong as ever. Since then, I have been on the lookout for affordable and well-made xiao long baos. Believe me, the quest has not been easy. In most Chinese restaurants, the xiao long baos are either too dry, or the skin is too thick, or the skin somehow gets punctured while it's steaming so the juices seep out even before it gets to the customers' tables.
Thankfully, I've found my go-to place for my xiao long bao fix when Crystal Jade chain opened their doors last year. The Xiao Long Bao craze has taken Manila by storm. Everyone was just suddenly craving for these delicate "soup dumplings". I remember lining up for almost two hours at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao when they first opened! Yep, two friggin' hours. Granted, they just opened at the time, but their service was terrible and their seating order was ridiculously inefficient. Anyway, you can imagine how grumpy we were by the time we were seated. We were all hungry and irritable by the time our orders got to our table. We were so ready to nitpick and rant about the food. At that point, I just wanted to eat my dinner and get out of there. I was certain that I would never ever go back...well, until I tasted the food that is. We, meaning Yuri plus my parents & aunt, all kind of looked at each other with bemused expressions because we didn't expect their food to be on point, what with the messy state of things on the service side. Funny thing was, initially we were all kinda bummed that all the dishes we ordered turned out to be ridiculously delicious, since we were looking forward to complaining about the food. Their, xiao long bao, chicken with cashew nuts, hand-pulled noodles, braised eggplant with pork, and radish pastry, definitely shut us up good. LOL. Mad props to them. I think everyone in the restaurant kind of had the same sentiment. Everyone was trying really hard to still look mad and annoyed, but a grin and a satisfied sigh would slip out here and there in between bites.
I'm happy to report that the crazed-xiao-long-bao-crowds have calmed down. Crystal Jade is still as popular as ever, but at least now you don't have to wait to get in and the quality of their service has shaped up tremendously since they first opened.
Yuri and I decided to pop in for an early lunch since we were doing a bit of shopping at Greenhills. I'm pretty sure you guys know by now what we ordered for our starter. It was no other than their Xiao Long Bao!
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| Xiao Long Bao Php 158.00 |
Making a good xiao long bao is a fine art. First the dough for the skin has to perfectly circular and thin enough, that it becomes translucent when cooked, but not too thin that it breaks while it's steaming. Once the flour dough or skin is thin enough, it is then usually filled with pork together with a meat aspic (jelly made from meat stock). It is then sealed and pinched on top. These soup dumplings are steamed and served in bamboo baskets. Xiao long bao is always served with black vinegar with slices of ginger. What I usually do is I wait a bit for the xiao long bao to cool down, dip it in the black vinegar, and then eat the whole thing in one go. It's quite an experience really. The tangy earthy taste of the black vinegar slowly combines with the rich flavors of the "soup" as the dumpling slowly bursts in your mouth. The flavors of the savory pork filling then emerges while the delicate dumpling "skin" just sorts of melts in your mouth. A tremendous amount of skill goes into making this Shanghai-style soupy dumpling and I think that's a big part of why I enjoy it so much. Every single aspect of this delicacy requires a daunting amount of work (especially the aspic!) and a certain kind of finesse.
I don't go to Crystal Jade for the xiao long bao alone. They've got dishes here that are equally tasty and as well executed as the soup dumplings. Since it was just us two, we decided to order two bowls of steamed rice and then we just split a plate of their Sauteed Chicken with Cashew Nuts in Spicy Sauce. This is Yuri's fave!
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| Sauteed Chicken with Cashew Nuts in Spicy Sauce Php 288.00 |
This dish definitely shows off the skill level of their kitchen staff. I love it when all of the ingredients on my plate are cut uniformly. I'm just meticulous with my food like that. It drives Yuri nuts! It's no wonder too why this dish came out perfectly. The onions were crunchy, mushrooms were tender, and the chicken perfectly cooked. The textures were lovely! It was bathed in a sweet-ish sauce (my guess is hoisin, XO, plum, garlic, and touch of Shaoxing wine) peppered with chili flakes, and chopped fresh chili. They serve this dish with flour pancakes.
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| Radish Pastry Php 98.00 |
This is our default dessert at Crystal Jade. We are big fans of radish cakes so when we saw this on the menu, on our first visit, we just had to try it. These days, the Radish Pastry only thing we order for dessert at Crystal Jade.
Thin strips of radish and diced spring onions are wrapped in puff pastry and then deep-fried. It's fluffy, light, and oh so yummy! A must-try for radish fans.
They've got a lot of items to choose from so I'm pretty sure that no matter what you order you'll definitely enjoy dining here. :-)
Address: G/F, Virra Mall, Greenhills Shopping Center, Greenhills, San Juan City
Tel. #: 570-6910; 570-6912; 570-6914
Hours: Monday to Sunday 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM
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