In recent months, a newly opened Shanghai-based snack bar has gone viral on social media platform Xiaohongshu. With the ravaging pandemic, it moves against market headwinds and set off a miraculous tsunami of Shanghai-style flavors in Vancouver.

But what exactly is it? It is the focus of our story: Dumpling King.

Dumpling King

上海大王锅贴

7 - 3490 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC V5R 5L6

(604) 428-8638

 

Extreme and authentic flavors

The extreme and authentic flavors offered by the restaurant come from its strict ingredient selection, quality control and cooking techniques. Dumpling King strives to achieve the ultimate in every snack it makes by leveraging the special attention to details in Shanghai cuisine.

Popular dish No. 1:

The signature dish Fired Dumplings sufficiently preserves the authentic old Shanghai flavor, as all processes from ingredient purchase, meat mincing, wrapper making by hand are conducted by the chef and owner of the restaurant on site. All these efforts are exerted to ensure every fried dumpling has an extremely good flavor featuring “thin skin, crispy base, rich fillings and juicy soup”.  The moment you take a bite of a dumpling, you will instantly be amazed by the wonderful explosion of flavors coming from the soup and meat wrapped by the crispy skin.  That, plus the dipping sauce personally prepared by the wife of the restaurant’s owner, will make your eyes glisten with happy tears.

Popular dish No. 2:

Wonton is also a spiritual relish among Shanghai snacks. The ingredients and recipe of Large Wonton are exclusively developed by the restaurant itself. The soup base, carefully prepared with lard, has a delicate and mellow taste. Tailor-made wrappers can stand long-time boiling without breakage. The Small Wonton offered by the restaurant, made with the secret recipe passed by the head chef of the canteen at the East China University of Political Science and Law, is even more delicious given its thin skin and tender stuffing.

Popular dish No. 3:

Curry Beef Vermicelli Noodle Soup, the best match for Fried Dumplings, is another popular offering of the restaurant. Similarly, it is also invented by the restaurant through repeated trials and errors, and the result is a perfect reproduction of the old alley flavor in Shanghai. Yes, the flavors that you can find along the Wujiang Road or Xingye Li alley in Shanghai.

Super Tips:

It is worth noting that the side dishes offered by restaurant should not be missed either because they have the similar efficacy to please your taste buds. Pickle Tea Egg, Pickled Edamame and Dipping Chili Sauce can all repositories of reminiscence of home. They are remote flavors of grandma that have ingrained deep into your heart.

 

Stories and people:

It is culture that lies behind good cuisine and the root of culture is people. The instant success of Dumpling King is actually inseparable from Mr. Li, the owner and head chef.

As a native of Shanghai, Mr. Li has travelled around the world and has more than 2 decades’ worth of head chef experience in Chinese food, western-style pastry and Japanese food. In particular, the 7 years that he spent in a Japanese restaurant has made a great influence on him. The Japanese’s pursuit of quantification, standardization and procedural workflows is incomparable. Their control over ingredients and condiment is also strictly implemented in a matter of grams. This allows Mr. Li to gain a profound food preparation experience and a unique insight to cuisine. After starting his own restaurant, he choose to incorporate the extremely rigorous and careful mindset in his operation. Even refrigerating temperatures for different ingredients are exactly controlled, a practice rarely seen in most restaurants. This may be the essential difference between true craftsmanship and profit-seeking mindset.

With years of experience, Mr. Li has developed a natural confidence and persistence in his cooking skills. In operating the restaurant, he aspires to make the best of his craft and artistry in cooking so that more Chinese people living overseas, as well as local residents, can enjoy the most authentic Shanghai snacks.  The positive word-of-mouth and good reputation gained by the restaurant over the short term also validate the promise of his ambition.

Mr. Li believes that only food with a devoted mindset can be naturally appealing to customers, and only heartfelt services can ultimately win the heart of customers, thereby leading to a word-of-mouth effect among customers and imperceptibly promoting the influence of Shanghai snack cuisine in Vancouver.

This is Dumpling King, a restaurant known for its attitude, persistence and warmth.