The best xiao long bao you never had

I scooped eater dot com and everyone else again!

Technically this is not XLB. It is a shumai. And it’s Inner Mongolian Lamb style. Massively sized about twice as big as typical xlb. 6 not 5. The lamb meatballs inside yield a broth that is extraordinary in it’s amount and you will want not for the unctuousness of pork fillings or it’s variants of concern. (Sorry bad joke.) The skins are not bao type but they are thinner than anything you’ve seen on any xlb or dumpling.

To give you some background, shumai was actually invented in Huhhot, the capitol of Inner Mongolia. Most Americans and even Chinese believe it is of Guangzhou or Shanghai origin but that would be incorrect. There are no tricks involved like freezing the meat mixture to solidify the fat or liquid, except for a bit of starch added. It’s flavored with a variety of spices including white pepper, ginger, scallions, and flax seed oil. It is quite easy to devour the entire bamboo steamer’s worth, because compared to xlb, it’s a bit lighter in flavor and not as fatty, even if it’s twice the amount. The skins are made in a quite delicate manner, pressed out twice, and only rested for about a half hour. The outer surface is folded and creased upon itself to yield a top that is as complex as a carnation flower. When the lid of the steamer is lifted, the “petals” flutter bewitchingly as the steam wafts, beguiling you, yet you can’t just dig in, you just stare in fascination. Did you take 6 photos yet lol. The edges on my sample were so thin, flakes of completely dried out flour started flaking off, it’s basically shamanic cookery.

So I found this in a Chinese style restaurant and I’m not quite ready to reveal it. Almost no one knows this place, no chatter on WeChat, nothing. I sat there two nights ago and one Chinese student couple at, and only one takeout order went out. The phone rang once. Yesterday I ate lunch alone. The other dishes, jeez, some of the best it’s category in Boston or even NYC. This is a huge discovery and you are getting in on the ground floor, old-timers! This dish does not exist in NYC, it briefly existed in a closed Xinjiang style place for a while and was written up on Grubstreet.

Pro-tip, because of the massive size it is easy to burn your mouth. Eat with caution at first.

Now I’m gonna let you marvel over the initial pics. Next time I’m getting video.

Send bitcoin if you want the location early! Mwahahaha!

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Thanks, Grasshopper, but I think I can live without it.

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Everyone is invited except Pilgrim! Who you calling grasshopper I was on alt.food and chowhound in the 1980’s and 90’s. Look at me, I am the foodmaster now

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If you want this apparently deserted place to continue to exist, perhaps keeping its identity a secret is not quite the power move that it seems to be?

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GONGGGG Intel drop delayed by 36 hours!

I am altering the deal. Pray I dont alter it any further

Dont ruin it for everyone else when you got no sense of humor!

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that does look good! not sending bitcoin though, haha. c’mon, dish!

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Looks delicious and your pics are superb!

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A couple of hints it has zero reviews on the yelp listing which has typos in the name. Part of the reason no one knows is that previous tenant’s signage is still up.

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@anon6418899 I love you but I’m too old for this shit. Reveal, please!

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Reveal coming soon I’m still eating meanwhile watch my vid and drool!

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This is getting tiresome.

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More like a bag of hot air and little to show. Sad how much some insecure people need to artificially inflate their ego just that they feel to stay relevant - even though nobody cares about them

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No sense of humor! It’s literally just a meme! “Look at me I’m the captain now” from Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks, cmon! I’ll post links location, everything in a few, I have two phone conferences tonight! Jeez rough crowd!

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Alright you ingrates with no gratitude here you go! Try to wash the bitterness out of your mouth with some black vinegar before you dig in! Lol

So it’s 922 Main Street, Waltham. This is the location of Jin’s, Yummy Noodle, and lastly Jiangnan. In fact, Jiangnan’s awning is still up probably why no one has found it.

To compound matters, the company who made their website put in a wrong name for their Google Places. It says “Sichuan Cuisine Waltham” but that’s not their name at all

From the Google Places page, the link is https://sichuancuisinewaltham.com/ and in fact it is the restaurant, it has the menu and everything, but with the wrong name.

The english name is in fact A Lee 88 Chinese Restaurant. https://www.alee88restaurant.com/

Strangely, if you click the menus from both Sichuan Cuisine Waltham or A Lee 88, you get the same menu. https://menustone.com/local/alee88

Are you still with me?

Now the Yelp listing has it as Alee88 Chinese Restaurant making everything just completely messed up. I have the only review which was a copy pasta from this post. https://www.yelp.com/biz/alee88-chinese-restaurant-waltham

So a combo of bad street visibility, multiple conflicting and incorrect web presence, and a lack of awareness even in the Chinese student community is making this place invisible. But maybe you guys can make some noise. This is a very special treat that even NYC doesn’t have at the moment, and I assure you it is expertly done, I have talked to my friend in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia about it this week.

Their Chinese name is somewhat meaningless. It sort looks like the characters for Quanjude 全聚德 (quan ju de) but it’s not the same characters. Quanjude is the most reputable Peking Duck place in Beijing. I’ve eaten at one of them. So it’s kinda like they wanted to ape a reputable Chinese brand, but instead of Starbucks, it’s like SolarBlast or something, you understand?

This was a lotta sleuthing and research, so I hope you appreciate it and put up with my humor and buildup. I wouldn’t do it unless it was worth it!

Now go eat! You are welcome to meet me there sometime, but only if you are nice! FU if you just a nasty old crank who wants instant gratification more than a six year old! Shame on you!

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PS on the google page one reviewer left (Translated by Google) His family has Inner Mongolia roasted wheat! ! ! !

(Original)
他家有内蒙烧麦!!!!

That translation is bad. It says his house has Inner Mongolia Shumai. Funny! But you can see the 2nd person in Boston to find this place is just as excited as I am lol

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It’s your overall attitude who is tiresome, boring and quite frankly not a good addition to an otherwise well functioning food board

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What can I say you have no sense of humor!

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Strange humor to be secretive about a food place on a food board

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This sounds awesome @anon6418899. Thanks, man. Frankly, I welcome a bit of mystery in my otherwise boring life these days.

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This is from an app called Red. It is a Chinese copy of pinterest and insta and yelp all together.

So FOBs are starting to figure it out! I scooped them and got you vital intel before anyone! Even if I held a little. Cmon who doesn’t like a little tease now and then to spice things up! It might be good to raise your pulses above 40

You better get there tomorrow before it’s swarmed with Chinese students in oddly colored sweats!

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