Where to find the best soup dumplings in Shanghai

Sophia Yan
By Sophia Yan, CNN
5 minute read
Updated 1:04 AM EDT, Tue May 26, 2015
After growing tired of hearing people bicker over which Shanghai shops serve the best soup dumplings, former chef Christopher St. Cavish conducted a scientific study.
The soup dumpling guy —
After growing tired of hearing people bicker over which Shanghai shops serve the best soup dumplings, former chef Christopher St. Cavish conducted a scientific study.
Christopher St. Cavish
St. Cavish's study analyzes the ratio of soup and meat filling to the thickness of the dumpling skin. He used a digital scale to weigh dumpling parts in grams and a digital caliper to measure the wrapper in fractions of a millimeter.
Precision tools —
St. Cavish's study analyzes the ratio of soup and meat filling to the thickness of the dumpling skin. He used a digital scale to weigh dumpling parts in grams and a digital caliper to measure the wrapper in fractions of a millimeter.
Christopher St. Cavish
St. Cavish recorded measurements before plugging the numbers into a self-derived formula to arrive at a final score for each restaurant.
Dumpling files —
St. Cavish recorded measurements before plugging the numbers into a self-derived formula to arrive at a final score for each restaurant.
Christopher St. Cavish
St. Cavish chomped on more than 300 soup dumplings to create his definitive <a href="http://theshanghaisoupdumplingindex.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Shanghai Soup Dumpling Index</a>, available online.
The index —
St. Cavish chomped on more than 300 soup dumplings to create his definitive Shanghai Soup Dumpling Index, available online.
Christopher St. Cavish
Where to find the best soup dumplings in Shanghai

This story complements the Culinary Journeys TV series, airing monthly on CNN International. See more of the show here: www.cnn.com/journeys. Share photos of your own Culinary Journeys on Instagram with the hashtag #CNNFood for a chance to be featured on CNN.