Dumplings are go as Taste of Shanghai launches Lilong

  • THE march of Shanghainese cuisine across Sydney continues with the opening of Lilong, a new concept venue from the family behind the Taste of Shanghai restaurants, at Hurstville on Saturday.To get more news about taste of shanghai, you can visit shine news official website.

    The up-market venue with a Giant Designs fitout will open on the top floor of Westfield Hurstville and has been designed to replicate the look of a luxurious 1930s Shanghai home. The name Lilong has been taken from the alleyways that were a feature of the famed northern Chinese city during its Art Deco phase.
    Owner Aaron Mi says the menu will be traditional northern cuisine, with a focus on hand-rolled dumplings such as xiao long bao, as well as some new additions including beef and baby celery dumplings and lamb and spring onion dumplings, neither of which have been offered at Taste of Shanghai before.

    Mi says that he wants Lilong to reflect a traditional way of socialising in Shanghai.

    “I never ate at home, I ate at my neighbour’s place,” he says. “I wanted to bring the lilong concept over to Sydney, and create a welcoming experience where it feels like you’re spending time in someone’s lounge room.”
    The opening follows an ambitious expansion plan for Taste of Shanghai, with venues in the group now including Shanghai Stories 1983 in Chatswood, and Taste of Shanghai restaurants across Sydeny from the original Ashfield venue, opened in 2005, to newer spaces in World Square, Sydney, and Eastwood.
    Shanghai is one of the biggest cities in the world and is rapidly expanding, but has it hung on to its culinary roots? Rick Stein wants to find out.

    ‘We all love a Chinese – the sweet and the sour, the freshness, the crunchiness, the colours, the smell of five spice and soy. I’ll be finding the pockets of traditional food still left in this city – the dishes that the Shanghainese long for away from home. I’m going to taste rich red braised pork, Chairman Mao’s favourite, the city’s cherished hairy crabs and mouthwatering dumplings, unique to Shanghai, so delicate they sag under the weight of the hot liquid inside and burst at the lightest touch. And I want to add a few more dishes to your Chinese repertoire. I’m going to share my favourite Shanghainese dishes from this trip. If, like me, you thought you knew Chinese food, you’re in for a surprise.’.