A staffer at Shanghai Nanxiang Xiaolong Restaurant makes a bun. (Photos: Yang Hui/GT)
Nanxiang xiaolong is one of the most popular snacks in Shanghai. The official Nanxiang Xiaolong Restaurant at Guyi Garden in Jiading district receives droves of customers from home and abroad every day. The restaurant's staff not only make juicy steamed buns, but also add new twists to traditional recipes, winning over even more customers. (Photos: Yang Hui/GT)
When it comes to popular snacks in Shanghai, Nanxiang xiaolong (steamed buns) take the cake. Listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage, Nanxiang xiaolong boasts a history of more than 170 years. At the official Nanxiang Xiaolong Restaurant at Guyi Garden in Jiading district, the Global Times met Li Jiangang, the sixth-generation inheritor of Nanxiang xiaolong. Li has spent over 40 years making the juicy buns as they always have been, but is now attempting to do something different.
Li said he is no longer satisfied with just making traditional Nanxiang xiaolong. He now strives to inject innovation into the traditional recipes through a variety of experimental, playfully creative alternative flavors.
After plenty of trial and error, Li's unique Nanxiang xiaolong are finally beginning to win over the hearts and stomachs of local customers.
Li told the Global Times that the only big backfire he's had so far was a hot and spicy-flavored bun, which was criticized so frequently by customers that it was removed from the restaurant's menu in less than a month after its introduction.
Chen Yihong (pictured below), a disciple of Li, is the seventh-generation inheritor of the trade. Influenced by his master, Chen is also keen on adding a new twist to traditional Nanxiang xiaolong.
One of his most recent creations is a bun filled with dried meat floss, which he first tested on his fellow workers (below) for their honest feedback.
"The feedback I got from them was that the filling was a bit too sweet, which means I need to work on improving my recipe," Chen said.
He added that the creation of every new variety of Nanxiang xiaolong requires month-long effort of constant trial and error before they dare put their experiments on Shanghai's notoriously critical open market.
