Shanghai Tan Pan-fried Buns 上海滩生煎包 (Clementi)

Finally tried these pan-fried buns [a.k.a. sheng jian bao 生煎包] after reading rave reviews from social medias.

The enormous bun comes with a somewhat thicker skin and pan-fried bottom, bursting with amazingly flavourful broth and juicy meat filling.

One quick note 📝 is to consume the pan-fried buns & fried dumplings 🔜 as the chewy skin hardens quickly, nearly causing a chipped tooth when I bite on the thick doughy skin. 😨

#burpple #burpplesg #stfoodtrending #straitstimesfood #sgfood #sgeats #foodsg #wheretoeatsg #whattoeatsg #shanghaitanpanfriedbun

The Xiao Long Bao was decent which bb enjoyed, though BB felt that the aspic was slightly sweeter than he would have preferred. Skin thickness was alright, and the meat filling texture was among the better ones we have tried thus far.

These baos in the Shanghai Tan Pan-Fried Bun Platter are LEGIT JOOOOICY! Both the pork and prawn buns are packed with well-flavourful & QQ meat filling and brimming with stock like a xiao long bao (which we also ordered), so we were careful not to spurt the broth onto our clothes. We liked the prawn variant more because of the fresh prawns incorporated into the meat filling. Also enjoyed the contrast between the softer & thinner texture of the wrapper and the thicker & crusty base (where the knot is fried) that tasted like a fried mantou.

You can also mix and match the appetiser options in their Appetizer Platter. Their Shanghainese Drunken Chicken features bite-sized pieces with supple skin and subtle tones of Shaoxing wine, and the Black Fungus in Vinegarette is a good option if you want something tangy and spicy!

Must say the pan fried buns were very good. This is the modern un-leavened type with the knot placed at bottom and fried. The dough is therefore just a thin layer and not fluffy like skin of meat buns. Where the knot is fried, it’s very crispy. There’s quite a bit of porcine flavoured gravy in each of these (see video) even though they don’t add lard into the filling. Nonetheless, the pork fillings were so full of flavour because they were fresh and not sweet like some of those you get in Singapore. Just savoury sweet. You need to dip into vinegar/ginger and yummy!