National Dishes of the World

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Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)
Photo: Peachyeung316, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

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Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)

小笼包 (xiǎolóngbāo)

Delicate steamed dumplings filled with pork and hot broth, eaten with black vinegar and ginger.

Eaten in: China

Prep
1 h 30 min
Cooking
20 min
Resting
4 h 30 min
Total
6 h 20 min
Servings
4

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About the dish

Xiaolongbao are small dumplings of thin wheat dough steamed in bamboo baskets, which gave them their name – xiaolong means ‘little basket’. Inside is a filling of minced pork and jellied stock that melts into hot broth as they cook. A good xiaolongbao has a dozen or more fine pleats on top and a wrapper so thin it is almost translucent, yet does not tear. They are eaten with care: set on a spoon, nibbled open, the broth sipped, then finished with black vinegar and slivers of ginger. They are associated above all with Shanghai and the surrounding region, and Taiwan is now famous for them too.

Main ingredients

  • wheat flour
  • minced pork
  • jellied stock
  • ginger
  • spring onion
  • soy sauce
  • Shaoxing wine
  • black vinegar

China: A speciality of Shanghai and neighbouring Jiangsu; the Wuxi version is noticeably sweeter.

More: Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/xiaolongbao

Ingredients

4 servings

4 servings

Method

  1. Soak the gelatine in a little cold stock, stir it into the rest of the hot stock, pour into a shallow dish and chill for 4 hours until set.

  2. Mix the pork with the soy sauce, sugar, wine, ginger, spring onions, sesame oil, salt and pepper, stirring in one direction until sticky.

  3. Finely chop the jelly and fold it gently into the filling; keep it in the fridge until you are ready to fill.

  4. Knead the flour and water into a smooth dough, cover and rest for 30 minutes, then divide into 32 balls and roll each into an 8 cm round, thin at the edges.

  5. Put a teaspoon of filling in the centre and pleat the edge in small folds, turning the dumpling, until it is closed at the top.

  6. Arrange in a steamer basket lined with perforated baking paper or cabbage leaves and steam over a strong boil for 8 minutes.

  7. Serve at once with vinegar and ginger, warning everyone that there is hot broth inside.

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