Full steam ahead for world famous dumplings

Yet today throngs of locals and foreign tourists alike queue outside Din Tai Fung's three-storey flagship store in Taipei to sample its specialty steamed dumplings or "xiao long bao" -- small white buns with juicy pork filling that are cooked and served in bamboo steamers.

The restaurant has also attracted foreign dignitaries and celebrities and last month Taiwan's foreign ministry enlisted Din Tai Fung in a gourmet food tour for tourists from France and England to help promote the island's image.

Yang, 52, said the success of Din Tai Fung lies in "committing ourselves to doing everything well, from preparing the food to serving the customers and maintaining the hygiene of the restaurant".

"It is an enormous pressure to live up to the expectations. We are constantly striving to make the restaurant better and not to let our patrons down," Yang said.

Yang inherited the business from his father Yang Bing-yi. Its big break in to the international gourmet scene came in 1993 when the New York Times listed it among its "top ten" restaurants in the world -- the first and so far only Taiwanese restaurant to receive such an accolade.

In Taiwan, the restaurant rolls out some 15 million steamed dumplings annually and in 2007 reported revenue of NT$700 millions (US$21.63 million). Last year it opened its third branch on the island, in Fuhsing.

Din Tai Fung opened its first restaurant abroad in 1996 in Tokyo and in 2001 expanded to Shanghai -- considered the birthplace of xiao long bao -- and later to other Chinese cities including Beijing, Shenzhen and Dongguan.

Currently it has 38 franchised restaurants overseas and is planning to open in Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand this year.

The first thing customers to the Taipei flagship see when they enter is a framed plaque reading "Din Tai Fung Oil Shop" -- a relic of its humble start when the elder Yang opened his first small eatery three decades ago out of dire financial necessity.