Steamed Soup Dumplings 小籠包

Steamed Soup Dumplings 小籠包 xǐao long bāo, have been around since the Sung Dynasty.  It is said to have originated in the province of Jiangnan.  It’s name, literally translated, is “little basket bun”.  The basket refers to the bamboo steam basket that it’s steamed in.  Today, this little bun, from Northern China, has become known around the world as “the dumpling with the soup inside”.

What can be better than a consommé-like broth with tender minced meat enveloped in a soft dough skin?  Not much I can think of that tops Steamed Soup Dumpling 小籠包 on a cold winter day.  The broth has a subtle taste of pork, ginger and onions.  The meat is tender and flavourful.  And the skin is strong enough to hold everything together but still soft when you bite into it. 

A very popular international restaurant chain, Din Tai Fung, is famous for their Steamed Soup Dumpling 小籠包.  They knead the dough by machine to achieve the perfect elasticity.  Each piece of dough for one xǐao long bāo is a precisely 5 grams.  They then add 16 g of filling in each dumpling.  Lastly, there are to be exactly 18 folds, or pleats, to close the top of the xǐao long bāo.  The owners have said that it takes years for the chefs to master the craft of making these little bite-sized dumplings.

My recipe obviously will not be showing you how to make the Din Tai Fung xǐao long bāo because it’s their secret recipe!  But I will show you how to get similar results using time saving ideas.  You're going to wow your family by how good this tastes!  Your only problem will be that they’ll keep wanting more!

Looking for more Shanghai style recipes? Try the Beijing Soy Paste Noodles 炸酱面, Braised Lion’s Head 紅燒獅子頭, or Pan-fried Pork Buns 生煎包.

Steamed Soup Dumplings 小籠包

The Steamed Soup Dumpling, 小籠包 xǐao long bāo, is a delicious dim sum or appetizer.

Customize with these ideas:

• Consider adding crab meat or shrimp to the filling

• make the broth gelatin using hot and sour soup

• Add leeks or cabbage to the filling

• Make a big one filled with broth gelatin and steam it in a rice bowl like a “soup-filled dumpling” 灌湯餃

They may seem difficult to make, but it’s not as difficult as you might think. I’ll show you how you can make it at home and wow your family and friends!

5 from 1 vote

Approximate cost (CAD) $6

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 30 Dumplings

Calories 51 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Ingredients for making the skin:

• 200 g All-purpose flour
• 2 g Salt
• 125 ml Hot Water (70˚C or 158˚F)

Ingredients for broth gelatin*:

• 250 ml Broth chicken or pork
• 1 packet Gelatin powder 7g
• ½ tsp Salt do not add if your broth contains salt

*Alternative to using gelatin powder:Take 100g of pig skin, blanche for 5 minutes. Scrape off excess fat; cut into strips; add to 250 ml of broth and 250 ml water; add ½ tsp salt (do not add if your broth already contains salt); and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and cook for 2 hours. Strain and pour 250ml into container; let cool and then put in the fridge for setting. Best to make the day before.

Ingredients for making ginger onion water:

• 2 slices Ginger
• 2 stalks Green onions cut into 3” segments
• 100 ml Water or broth

Ingredients for meat filling:

• 250 g Ground pork approx. 30% fat
• 1 Egg white
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• ¼ tsp White pepper powder
• 1 tsp Light soy sauce
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Sesame oil

Ingredients for dipping sauce:

• 2 thin slices Ginger finely shredded
• 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar or Chinese red vinegar

Instructions

 

Instructions for broth gelatin: The gelatin will take approx. 2 hours to set

• Prepare the broth gelatin by heating 125g broth in a pot. When it comes to a boil, lower the temperature to low, add 1 packet of gelatin (or 7g), ½ tsp salt (do not add if your broth already contains salt) and mix well until the gelatin has melted. Turn off heat
  
• Add the remainder 125g of the broth and mix well. Pour through a sieve into a container, let cool, cover and then put into the fridge to set. It can cool quicker if you put it into a large, flat bottom container
  
• Once the gelatin sets, chop it up into little pieces
  
• Put it into the fridge until ready to use

Instructions for ginger onion water:

• In a small pot, add 100ml water or broth, 2 slices of ginger and 2 stalks of green onions (cut in large pieces) and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let it sit 30 minutes. Do not open the lid.
• Strain, discard the solids and keep the liquid in a container for later use. Put into fridge when it cools down

Instructions for wrappers:

• Put 200g of flour into a mixing bowl, add 2g salt and mix well. Add hot water that is approx. 70˚C or 158˚F in 2 intervals while mixing the mixture together. Mix until water has been absorbed by the flour
• Use your hands to knead the dough until you can form a very rough ball. Let it rest for 10 minutes
• Knead again for around 10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and form into a ball. Let it rest for 60 minutes Make the meat filling now
  
• After 60 minutes, flatten the dough ball slightly, find the centre point and poke your thumb through it You should start this step when your meat filling is finished and setting in the fridge
• Make the hole bigger while stretching out the ring-shaped dough. Try to pull it bigger while keeping the thickness even until the thickness is approx. 3cm in diameter.
• Break the ring so now you have a long piece of dough
• Cut off pieces of approx. 10g/piece of dough. Continue cutting for one batch. If you can only steam 12 dumplings at a time, then just cut 12 pieces.
  
• Wrap the remaining dough in plastic wrap
  
• Roughly shape each piece of dough into a circle shape and flatten by pressing with your palm.
  
• Sprinkle with flour and put all the flattened pieces into a plastic bag or under plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out
  
• Roll each piece of dough to approx. 10cm in diameter with a rolling pin with emphasis on making the edges thinner than the middle Thinner edges will make your pleats or folds on the dumpling look cleaner and you won’t end up with a big piece of dough when you eat your dumpling
  
• Since the wrappers are so thin, they dry out easily so you should wrap with filling as soon as you finish rolling one wrapper

Instructions for meat filling:

• Put 250g of ground pork into a mixing bowl. Add 1 tsp salt and mix into the meat by stirring in one direction for 1 minute this will help create elasticity in the meat
• Add 1 egg white, ½ tsp sugar, ¼ tsp white pepper powder, 1 tsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp Shaoxing wine and mix well, also stirring in one direction for 1-2 minutes until the mixture looks fairly dry
• Pour 1/3 of the ginger onion water into the pork mixture and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed. Repeat 2 more times until all the ginger onion water has been absorbed
• Add the chopped up broth gelatin to the mixture and mix well
• Add 1 tsp of sesame oil to the mixture and mix well Adding the oil last helps to seal in the liquids and the flavours to the meat
  
• Cover and put in the fridge until ready to use

Instructions for dipping sauce:

• Take 2 thin slices of ginger and slice into thin shreds and put into sauce dish
• Pour 2 tbsp of spiced vinegar onto the ginger

Instructions for wrapping and cooking the dumplings:

• Prepare a steamer lined with steaming paper or parchment paper with holes cut into it so that the water will not pool around the dumplings
• Sit a 10cm rolled wrapper on a flat surface and add approx. 20g of filling into the centre of the wrapper feel free to lessen the filling if it’s difficult to wrap
  
• Put your thumb of your dominant hand inside the wrapper and dominant index finger outside. Use your other hand to feed the folds. The dominant thumb holds one constant spot in place from the inside and the index finger presses each fold onto the spot where the thumb is holding. For each fold, the dominant thumb and index finger will gently pull upwards, stretching the wrapper edge slightly so that you will have enough gap between the filling and the wrapper edge to finish your folds Avoid touching the filling with your dominant hand because any oil on your fingers will prevent the skin from adhering to each other. Have a kitchen towel handy so that you can wipe your fingers if you do happen to touch the filling
• Keep folding pleats until the opening is a tiny hole. It’s common to have a small hole to prevent the skin from breaking during steaming. But there will also be more evaporation after steaming. To close the opening, just pinch the edges together and twist to seal. You may end up with a bit of a stem. You can leave it on or twist it off
• Place the completed dumpling into the steamer. Leave room between the dumplings for expansion. Repeat and continue until your steamer is filled
  
• Steam on medium heat (85˚C or 185˚F) for 9 minutes. Turn off heat and wait 1 minute before opening the lid
• Warning: the soup inside the dumplings will be very hot
• Serve with Chinese spiced vinegar and finely shredded ginger

Nutrition

Calories: 51kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 2gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 207mgPotassium: 35mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 33IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 3mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Dumplings, Soup Dumplings, Xiao Long Bao

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