Old Street Soup Dumplings

Old Street Soup Dumplings (Laojie Tangyuan) is a casual snack shop situated along Xijing Street in the historic water town of Zhujiajiao, in suburban Shanghai. The eatery specializes in traditional handmade tangyuan, the large, chewy glutinous rice dumplings that are a signature comfort food across the Jiangnan region. Staff hand-shape each dumpling behind the counter before boiling them to order.

While tangyuan are often associated with sweet desserts, the shop offers both savory and sweet fillings. A regional specialty worth trying is the savory minced pork dumpling (xianrou tangyuan), which holds a tender meatball that releases a spoonful of rich, hot broth inside the chewy rice dough. For sweet options, the black sesame and sweetened red bean versions provide fragrant, molten fillings. To help distinguish what is inside each bowl, different fillings are pinched into distinctive shapes, ranging from smooth rounds to pointed tips.