Dine & fly
Well-loved restaurant Din Tai Fung Philippines commemorated its first anniversary last year by creating the “Xiao Long Bao Day.” To mark the occasion, the restaurant rolled out its “Dine to Fly” promo, where a customer would get a chance to win a free trip for two to Din Tai Fung’s birthplace — Taipei, Taiwan!
Out of 50,000 raffle entries for the promo, the name of Dannie
de Castro was picked last Feb. 8 and before she knew it, she and a friend were on their way to see the sights and sounds of Taiwan.
There are several places to visit in the “Heart of Asia” including the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial, National Palace Museum, Raohe night market and Shilin night market for its famous pepper pork buns. Of course, a trip to the land of xiao long bao wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the first Din Tai Fung shop in the world, as well as the Din Tai Fung shop in Taipei 101.
It was at the Taipei 101 branch of the restaurant where Dannie came across some of the Din Tai Fung Philippines staff who had the pleasure of training at the original shop on how to make the restaurant’s exquisite dishes and how to serve them the Din Tai Fung way.
Din Tai Fung started as a cooking oil retail shop in 1958. By the early ‘70s, the brand dropped the cooking oil in favor of noodles and soup dumplings, dishes that have helped earn Din Tai Fung its globally recognized name with branches in the US, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines.
Through the years, the restaurant has mastered the art of creating the perfect xiao long bao. It has sold over two million of these dumplings to date.