Hidden treasures near the school

If you continue down GuangLan Road from the crossroad near the LianHua supermarket, you will be greeted by delicious and affordable local food. It has been almost 16 years since I moved to the SMIC-I community and I have always lived near it. Eating local food was out of the question as I was always skeptical of the quality of the local food. However, starting from middle school, I would always go with a group of friends, and it would feel like a great expedition, tasting new food.

The first location I urge people to go to is a small dumpling house. The dumpling house, named ShanDong Dumplings, offers a variety of dumplings to their customers. Along with the delicious taste of the dumplings, the price is also very affordable, the most expensive dish being only 6RMB for eight pieces. The two go-to dumpling choices are beef dumplings and the pork dumplings. After ordering your dumplings, you are given a chance to see the whole process as the house operates an open kitchen. They fill every dumpling with meat using their hands and drop them in boiling water. After a couple of minutes, the owners take out the freshly boiled dumplings and serve them to the customers along with soy sauce, vinegar, and chili.  Customers are given a choice to mix the sauces or use them separately. One bite of the dumpling will transport you to a household in the regional areas of China, where the whole family gathers together on Chinese New Year to celebrate.

ShanDong Dumplings is a legal business that offers safe food Photo Courtesy of Jason Lee

Students who have been already enjoying the dumplings a long time ago include Humbert Lai (12A), a senior who discovered this place when he was only a middle schooler, describes this place as “a sacred place [to me]… The owner here actually knows me because I came here since middle school.” Students who recently discovered this place include Andrew Lee (12A), who complained, “I can’t believe my friends gave me notice about this place just recently. The dumplings here give me almost twenty percent of my daily nutrients.” Lastly, students who have been recommended but have not yet ventured to this area include Ian Kim (11C), who said, “My friends constantly threaten to de-friend me because I haven’t been to ShanDong Dumplings yet. I’m going afterschool today though.”

Featured Image – A dish of dumplings from ShanDong Dumplings Photo Courtesy of Jason Lee