The Xiao Long Bao 11 @ Yokohama

What better way to bring in the Chinese New Year than by celebrating in Japan. Along with a crew of "Gajin" (Japanese for "non-Japanese") we boarded the train at Shibuya station for the journey to the city of Yokohama, home to one of the largest China Town areas in Japan. Pushing through the massive crowds we managed to view the standard parade.

Following the parade, we moved onto the important business of the day - dumplings of the Xiao Long Bao variety. For the uninitiated, these are generally steamed dumplings filled with pork and a hot soupy broth. The virtues of these dumplings have been well documented in Melbourne foody circles, having been made famous by Hutong. The difference here was that the streets of Yokohama were lined with vendors selling these tasty morsels. To the chagrin of my compadres, I pragmatically chose the stall with the longest queue and waited patiently.

20 minutes later, after the maestro having first steamed the dumplings, then fried the bottoms in oil and then having added a sprinkle of spring onions, they were ready. I eagerly handed over my yen, snatched the dumplings and added the usual vinegar. Then I heard a scream.

My famished rookie XLB eating companion had dived in too soon, biting into the hot soup dumpling, painfully scolding his tongue. Me, being well trained in the art of XLB eating, was familiar with the ancient Chinese proverb "Patience is a virtue" where the Xia Long Bao 11 approach was first developed. See upon receiving your dumplings, you must wait a full 11 minutes before consuming. As you can see in this photo, it is a well trained art. Even with the skill of the grand master that I possess, it can still be a difficult pursuit, particularly eating whilst standing in a street packed with thousands of parade-goers.

And so I too had a minor debacle eating my XLB. With my much cherished last dumpling held high between my chopsticks, I bit in with gusto, piercing the smooth outer layer and releasing a spray of soup so strong, that it hit a 12 year old Japanese girl 2 metres away right on the cheek. Even for the Japanese with impeccable manners, I was met with a death stare that said nothing other than: "What the fuck, Gaijin! You no eat Xiao Long Bao before?" And so the master was humbled. I will certainly try again.