Xiao Long Bao

Xiao long bao are small steamed dumplings from the Jiangnan region of China, famous above all in Shanghai. A thin, pleated wrapper of wheat dough encases a ball of seasoned pork and a spoonful of jellied broth, so that steaming melts the aspic into hot, savoury soup inside the dumpling.

They are served piping hot in bamboo steamers, usually a half-dozen to a basket, alongside a saucer of black vinegar and julienned ginger for dipping. Eating one properly is a small ritual: a gentle bite or a straw-sip to release the broth first, before eating the rest.

The dish is generally traced to the town of Nanxiang, just outside Shanghai, where a 19th-century vendor named Huang Mingxian is credited with adding the aspic-filled broth trick to steamed buns around 1871 at what became the Guyi Garden restaurant. The technique of setting broth into jelly so it could be sealed raw into a dumpling and then steamed back into liquid was the innovation that made xiao long bao famous.

Today the dumplings are a signature of Shanghainese cuisine and a benchmark dish for Chinese restaurants worldwide, with chefs judged on wrapper thinness, broth flavour, and how well the dumpling holds its soup until the first bite.