Hi there,
I was at Great World City checking out some eateries there, when I chanced upon this Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao branch locatedon the 2nd floor of Great World City selling Crystal Jade Longevity Buns.
They have this counter right in front of the restaurant that sell bread, pastries and lots of steamed buns like Longevity Buns which you do not usually see in other Crystal Jade outlets, so I decided to check it out and do a review on it.
As I mentioned in my other post how much I miss these little steamed buns which I can only have it during birthday dinner, I was so excited that I started to go crazy buying it back home. I think I actually ended up more than 12 buns as they were running a promotion of getting a free man tou for every 2 steam buns.
I managed to get 3 different flavors :
- White Sesame Paste (Green Bao)
- Custard (Yellow Bao)
- Lotus Paste (Pink Bao)
I used a wok to steam the buns rather than using the rice cooker this time, so it only took me about 5 mins to get it all done. Just pour some water in the wok and place the steaming tray over the water, with buns on top of the steaming tray on high heat for a few mins.
After steaming, the buns turn up very soft & fluffy, my mum commented the outer layer is slightly thick, but I kind of like how it is, because the fillings is quite generous, if the outlet layer is too thin, then the fillings will be too much and feels like as if you are eating moon cake more than enjoying a steamed longevity bun.
The custard longevity buns got the right balance of flavour, it is creamy and not overpoweringly sweet, although you won’t get those liquid custard with salted egg fillings where you get from chinese restaurant dim sum. You do get a less messy but equally tasty version of it.
The lotus flavour and the white sesame paste flavour were great too! The lotus paste is smooth and melts in your mouth,not very sweet, while the white sesame paste is a bit grainy but is full of nutty flavor with a slight hint of saltiness. Overall the sweet buns from Crystal Jade is great because they are not as sweet as I thought they will be.
I also bought quite a few meat buns like the pork belly with yam, pork with vegetables and also vegetable buns, but all the savory ones were not as good as the sweet ones. They were either too salty or the outer layer of the buns were too thin.
The man tou that they sell were also great, they have black sesame flavor, strawberry flavour and also plain. I love the black sesame flavour, every bite is bursting with sesame flavour, the one with the black sesame fillings are one of my favourite.
Too bad, red bean flavour was sold out, so I will try it out next time. The longevity buns cost about $1 each and is great for breakfast or snack.
I think this is a great choice to get for the birthday celebrations, perhaps great for the elders because it is not very sweet. But I feel it is for everyone at any age too, just like a “birthday cake” with a twist. It is so much easier to share around and you get to keep to the tradition. What’s not to love these little morsels of flavorful buns that also comes in different color, definitely look great in a basket & birthday photos taking.
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Cheers,
Dawn