If you heard you could purchase 20 pcs xiao long bao for PHP 300, would you jump at the chance? Of course you would! This is SOOO CHEAP, and I was really excited to try. This pack was imported from Taiwan, but is readily available in certain Asian supermarts.

Verdict: Great flavor given the price

Packaging

The packaging itself is very straightforward. Each xiao long pao is placed in an individual “cup” so there’s no chance of jostling. Note that these xiao long pao have soup inside so handle carefully. Likewise, what you’re paying for here is the dimsum itself – no sauce is provided

Cooking instructions

Make sure to keep the pack inside the freezer (NOT the refrigerator). This will make it easier for you to scoop out each individual piece of xiao long pao for steaming. I had stupidly moved mine to the refrigerator and had a really tough time scooping out the xiao long pao, hence why you see misshapen lumps for mine. It’s particularly sad because the pork soup ended up leaking out!

Anyway, once you have each xiao long pao, carefully steam to cook. Make sure to space out the xiao long pao carefully so they don’t stick to each other. Note that when steamed, these xiao long pao may expand a bit

Updated: I bought these xiao long pao again and applied my hard-earned lesson this time around. Lept it in the freezer until it was time to steam, and also cut up carrots to place underneath the xiao long pao to ensure the skin doesn’t break and the soup doesn’t leak out.

Taste

It’s GREAT. Even though I essentially screwed it up because most of the pork soup leaked out already, I found the meat to skin ratio extremely satisfying as the meat filling was incredibly generous. Likewise, while the skin itself was not as thin as I would’ve liked, it was also not so thick that it became distracting. I would term the skin just right – especially given it was frozen so you can’t have it too thin, or else it’ll easily rip during transport.

Overall, I’d say this purchase was excellent value for money, and I would definitely reorder again!