P
Chinese · Shanghai
Xiao Long Bao
Xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings) contain both filling and hot broth inside a thin, plisséd wrapper. The soup is not added as a liquid — it is added as a pork-gelatin aspic that melts during steaming, producing the characteristic burst of hot broth at the first bite. They are the most technically demanding Chinese dumpling. The wrapper must be thin enough to see the filling through it, yet strong enough to hold the broth without bursting.
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I
The Market List
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200 g
all-purpose flour
Your own market
100 ml
boiling water
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3 g
sea salt
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200 g
pork stock
chilled (or 80 g pork skin, dissolved)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
ground pork
shoulder
Your own market
80 g
shrimp
minced
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20 g
2
scallions
finely chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
8 ml
soy sauce
5 ml
sesame oil
Your own market
2 g
caster sugar
Your own market
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II
The Method
1
Mix flour with salt; slowly add boiling water while stirring with chopsticks until shaggy; knead 3 minutes until smooth. Rest 20 minutes.
2
Chill pork stock until set to jelly; mix into ground pork with shrimp, ginger, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar.
3
Refrigerate filling 2 hours until cold and stock is fully set.
4
Roll dough into 12 mm rope; cut into 20 pieces and flatten each into 6 cm thin disc.
5
Place 8 g filling in center; gather edges above filling and pleat to create purse shape with open top.
6
Steam in bamboo baskets lined with parchment, 5 cm apart, for 8–10 minutes until dough is translucent and filling is cooked through.
7
Serve immediately in baskets with black vinegar and sliced ginger on the side.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Where it lives or dies. The moment where XLB lives or dies is the eating technique — a xiao long bao eaten incorrectly (bitten through from the top) releases all the hot soup onto the tongue in a scalding burst. Correct: place the XLB in a Chinese soup spoon, bite the side of the wrapper gently to make a small hole, allow the soup to flow into the spoon, add a few drops of Chinkiang vinegar and shredded ginger, then consume the whole spoon — wrapper, filling, and soup together.
Pillars V — VII
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