One of the must haves in Shanghai is the Sheng Jian Bao (生煎包), and one of the places you must get them from is Yang’s Fried Dumplings.

Now, they are a chain, but they offer the best Sheng Jian Bao in Shanghai.

I happened to be in the Pudong side, near Pujian Road and in the basement of the YouYou International Mall, there is a branch!  So of course, I had to try.

The menu is not that big, you basically have your dumplings and then a variety of noodle dishes.

For those of you that are not sure what a Sheng Jian Bao is, here’s a tutorial.

It is a flour skin on the outside, and inside there is meat, usually pork, that is minced with spices and some veggies.  There is also some soup in the form of ice, that is added to the meat mixture as it is closed up.  They are then put on a cast iron skillet where they are cooked.  The bottoms are cooked until “burnt” and “crispy”.

The result is below.  A great hot dumpling with nice hot soup inside and a crispy bottom.  Be careful!  They are hot inside!

I added some glass noodles with a hot and sour broth to the meal to round it all out.

The dumplings are the best.  Looking back, I should not order the noodles and instead order more dumplings, but hey, you try it.

This is a MUST HAVE when in Shanghai!