Name: Xiaolongbao (Soup Dumplings)
Cuisine: Jiangnan

Xiaolongbao originated in Nanxiang, now a district of Shanghai, in the 1870s under dim-sum cook Huang Mingxian, who is credited with developing the soup-filled variant from existing stuffed-bun traditions. The name refers to the small bamboo steamers (xiao long) in which they are cooked and served.

The wrapper is a thin wheat dough, more delicate than the thicker skins used for northern-style jiaozi. The filling is minced pork mixed with a cube of solid pork-skin gelatin (aspic, set from simmered pork rind and collagen); during steaming, the aspic melts into hot liquid broth around the pork filling. A skilled wrapper applies 18 or more pleats at the top to seal the dumpling and contain the liquid.

Eating technique: use chopsticks to lift the dumpling by its pleated top (the xiao long bao is fragile — puncture it and you lose the soup). Transfer to a soup spoon. Bite or pierce a small hole in the side of the wrapper and sip the hot broth first, then eat the rest. Black rice vinegar with shredded fresh ginger threads is the standard condiment — the acidity cuts through the pork fat.

Significant variations include crab-and-pork (xie fen xiaolongbao), popular in autumn during hairy-crab season in Shanghai. The Suzhou version claims a separate origin and uses a somewhat different dough. Din Tai Fung, the Taiwanese chain now with Shanghai branches, standardised the form internationally, though the original Nanxiang house at Yu Garden in Shanghai remains a reference point.

Regional variants

The Nanxiang (Shanghai) original uses pork with a delicate wrapper closed with 18 pleats. The Wuxi style runs sweeter and larger. Din Tai Fung — the Taiwan chain — offers pork with seasonal crab roe. Shanghai crab-roe xiaolongbao (xie fen) appears in autumn. Shape and size vary between houses; what defines them is the soup-inside-the-dumpling technique rather than any single silhouette.

Where the name comes from

小笼包 translates as "small basket bun" — a reference to the small bamboo steamer (xiao long) they're cooked in rather than the dumpling itself. The form originated in Nanxiang, Jiading County — then a market town outside Shanghai — in the 1870s under a shopkeeper named Huang Mingxian, who is credited with adapting existing stuffed-bun traditions into the soup-filled variant now served across the Jiangnan region.

Pairings

Black rice vinegar with finely shredded fresh ginger is the standard dipping condiment — the acidity cuts the pork fat. A warm clear broth or a Chinese lager sits alongside comfortably. Longjing tea is a common non-alcoholic pairing. At Din Tai Fung the standard order runs dumplings first — pork then crab — followed by a bowl of noodle soup and a mixed dessert plate of red-bean and taro items.

Where to learn to cook it

Shanghai cooking schools — Cook in Shanghai among them — run half-day classes that teach the pleating and the aspic. Din Tai Fung runs academy sessions in Taipei for staff and occasional visitors. YouTube channels demonstrate the 18-pleat pattern frame by frame. The technical crux is the aspic — chilled pork-skin gelatin folded into the filling so that steaming melts it into soup inside the wrapper without splitting the dough.

Common misconceptions

Xiaolongbao are not dim sum in the Cantonese sense — they are a Shanghai-region specialty from the Jiangnan tradition rather than a Guangdong one. The "soup" inside is not poured in — it is chilled pork stock set into aspic and folded into the filling, which liquefies when steamed. Do not stab them with chopsticks — bite or pierce a small hole in the side first, drink the broth, then eat the wrapper and pork.

Xiaolongbao (Soup Dumplings)

Where to try

Dietary notes