Xiao Long Bao Shanghai Soup Dumplings Recipes

SOUP DUMPLINGS (XIAOLONGBAO)

Steps:

• In a small pot, add the pork skin and pork bones and cover with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil, and immediately drain and rinse off the bones and the skin. This gets rid of any impurities. Rinse out the pot and put everything back in. Add 4 cups (950 ml) water, ginger, scallion and wine. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
• After 2 hours, turn off the heat, allow the soup to cool, and strain the liquid into a bowl. Once the liquid is completely cooled, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• In a mixing bowl, add the flour and the warm water 1 tablespoon at a time. Work and knead the dough for 15-20 minutes. The dough should be very soft and smooth. Cover with a cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Take your ground pork and put it in the food processor. Pulse for 30-60 seconds until the pork resembles paste. In a mixing bowl, add the pork and the rest of the ingredients except the aspic. Whip everything together thoroughly, for about 2 minutes. You want everything to be extremely well combined, and the pork should look like a light, airy paste. Gently fold in the diced aspic, and do not over-mix. Cover and transfer the filling to the refrigerator until ready to make the dumplings. If you're ready now, you can put it in the freezer for 15 minutes to allow it to firm up and make assembling the buns easier.
• Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll the dough into a long cylinder/cigar, about an inch in diameter. Cut the dough into small equal pieces weighing about 11 grams each (the dough chunks should be a size resembling that of gnocchi). Roll out each piece into a round disc about 3 - 3 ¼ inches diameter. Keep everything under a damp cloth.
• Prepare your bamboo steamer. You can line it with cheese cloth, napa cabbage leaves, or these lovely bamboo steamer discs, which can be found in some Chinese restaurant supply stores (if using these, you must brush the discs with oil first!).
• When all that is prepared, take out the filling. You'll be making each bun one at a time. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of your dumpling skin. Pleat with as many folds as you can muster: 12-20 folds should do it. Make sure the top is sealed. If the filling ever gets too wet or hard to handle, put it in the freezer for another 15 minutes and start again.
• Place the buns in the lined steamer basket, about 2 inches apart.
• In a metal steamer pot or wok, boil water. If using a wok, put the water at a level so that when you put the bamboo steamer into the wok, the water rises about ½ inch up the bottom of the bamboo base. You never want the water to touch the dumplings inside, though, so make sure not to fill it too high!
• Once the water is boiling, put the bamboo steamer in the wok or steamer pot, cover with the bamboo steamer lid, and steam over high heat for 8 minutes. Immediately remove the bamboo steamer from the pot and serve.
• Ok, so there is definitely a proper way to enjoy these dumplings. Put away the soy sauce because it has no place on the table right now. What you want is Chinese black vinegar. Pour some out into a small, round dish or bowl, and top with some very thin matchsticks of ginger.
• Take out your two utensils-chopsticks and a Chinese soup spoon (a fork would just butcher these and the soup would dribble out all over the table. It would be a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions).
• Carefully, slowly peel the xiaolongbao off of the steamer basket and dip it into the vinegar. Gently transfer the dumpling to your soupspoon and take a tiny bite out of the skin on the side of the bun to make a little hole. Proceed to slurp the soup out of the bun (Carefully. It's HOT). Then, with a little more vinegar, finish the whole thing off in one bite.

XIAO LONG BAO-CHINESE SOUP DUMPLING

Steps:

• Make the pork jelly in the previous day with this instruction.
• In a small bowl, soak minced ginger, green onion and Sichuan peppercorn with 1/2 cup hot water for around 10 minutes to make ginger and green onion water.
• Blend the pork jelly for a while. Then add pork chunks in a blender, add salt, sugar, pepper, light soys sauce and oyster sauce. Blend with pause for 10 seconds. Then add the ginger and green onion water in. Continue blending with pause for another minute. Add the pork jelly, chopped green onion and sesame oil in. Stir in one direction for 1 or 2 minutes. Cover and place in fridge.
• Add pinch of salt in flour. Add flour and water in a mixing bowl and then knead the dough until smooth and stretchy (this process may need 15 to 20 minutes depending on your kneading skill. You can also use a mixer to do this job.) Cover with a wet cloth and reset for 1 hour.
• Shape the dough into a long log and cut into small pieces (around 12g each one). Then roll the wrapper out to form a large wrapper (around 12 cm in diameter). The wrapper should be quite thin.
• Place the wrapper in your left hand. Place 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of your wrapper. Fix the starting point with the thumb of right hand and begin to fold the edge counterclockwise. Move the thumb slowly in the process. Repeat the process until the dumpling is completely sealed. Then slightly pull up the sealed peaks and then remove the extra flour(so we can get even and thin wrapper).
• Place the assembled dumpling on lined steamer. Set up the steamer and steam for around 8 to 10 minutes after the water is boiling.
• Serve directly or with Chinese black vinegar and ginger shreds.

XIAO LONG BAO (SHANGHAI SOUP DUMPLINGS)

Steps:

• Stock your pantry
• Look for the ingredients and supplies featured here at an Asian market or online at adrianascaravan.com: Chinese-style cured smoked ham (or use Smithfield ham), dried shiitake mushrooms, Shaoxing (also spelled Shao Hsing) wine, black vinegar, dumpling wrappers (don't use wonton wrappers; they are too thin), and bamboo steamer sets.
• Make the soup
• Combine 10 cups water and all remaining soup ingredients except gelatin in large pot. Bring to boil, spooning off any foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until chicken pieces are very soft and beginning to fall apart, adding more water by cupfuls if necessary to keep chicken submerged, about 2 hours 30 minutes.
• Strain and chill
• Strain soup; discard solids. Return broth to same pot. Boil until reduced to 2 cups, about 35 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour 3 tablespoons water into small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens. Add to hot broth; stir until gelatin is dissolved. Transfer to 13x9x2-inch glass dish. Cover; refrigerate aspic overnight.
• Make the sauce
• Mix 1 cup black vinegar, 6 tablespoons soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons fresh ginger strips in small bowl. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
• Make the filling
• Combine all filling ingredients in large bowl and mix with fork just until blended. Cut aspic into 1/3-inch cubes. Add aspic to pork mixture; stir gently with wooden spoon just until incorporated. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
• Assemble the dumplings
• Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 1 dumpling wrapper on work surface. Spoon 1 very generous teaspoon filling onto center of wrapper, including at least 2 or 3 aspic cubes.
• Pleat the wrapper
• Lightly brush edges of dumpling wrapper with water. Bring 1 corner of wrapper up around filling, then pleat remaining edges of wrapper at regular intervals all around filling until filling is enclosed and wrapper forms bundle-like shape with small opening at top.
• Twist the top
• Gather top edges of wrapper together and twist at top to enclose filling. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. DO AHEAD Can be refrigerated, covered, for 1 day, or frozen in single layer in covered containers for 2 weeks.
• Prepare the steamer
• Line each layer of bamboo steamer basket with cabbage leaves; place over wok filled with enough water to reach just below bottom of bamboo steamer basket. (Or line metal steamer rack with cabbage leaves and set over water in large pot.) Place dumplings atop cabbage, spacing apart.
• Steam the dumplings
• Bring water to boil. Cover; steam until cooked through, adding more water to wok if evaporating too quickly, about 12 minutes for fresh dumplings and 15 minutes for frozen. Serve dumplings immediately, passing sauce alongside for dipping.

XIAO LONG BAO RECIPE (SOUP DUMPLINGS)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Bruise the scallion stalk by pounding it with the flat side of your knife.
• In a small pot over medium-high heat, bring 1 cup of low-sodium chicken broth, dried shiitake mushroom, ginger slice, and scallion to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, submerging the mushroom occasionally.
• Mix 3 packets of plain gelatin with the remaining 3/4 cup chicken stock in a heat-safe bowl.
• Remove solids from simmering broth and pour it into the bloomed gelatin, whisking to incorporate thoroughly. Pour into a sheet tray and refrigerate until set, about 45 minutes. While setting, prepare the dough and mince.
• Gather the ingredients.
• Heat 1/2 cup of water to 195 F in a small saucepan. If you don't have a thermometer, it should be steaming and on the verge of simmering with small bubbles rising to the top.
• Meanwhile, place the 3 1/2 cups of flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the 1/2 cup of 195 F water and stir with a wooden spoon.
• Once the initial portion of water has been absorbed, add the room temperature water. Knead until all the flour has been incorporated. If the dough is too dry, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
• Add oil and knead again until a smooth dough ball has formed, 3 to 5 minutes. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
• Cover bowl of dough with plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
• Gather the ingredients.
• While the dough is resting, prepare the mince. Place the meat in a large bowl and add the scallion, garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and dark soy sauce. Mix until uniformly combined.
• Add the salt, sugar, and white pepper, and mix vigorously, kneading and crushing the mince through your fingers.
• Your mince will be ready when the texture is paste-like, and it leaves a film on the walls of the bowl. Set aside and retrieve the aspic.
• Take your jellied aspic and cut it into about 4 sections. Julienne the sections , and then brunoise the julienne to achieve small cubes. A rough chop followed by a mince is acceptable as well.
• Add your aspic to the mince in 3 to 4 portions, mixing to incorporate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is ready for use.
• Using a bench scraper or knife, divide the dough ball into 4 even pieces. Take one quarter section (cover the remaining sections with a kitchen towel), and using both hands, grasp it by its midsection. Gently massage it with an outward motion to elongate the section into a cylinder.
• Place the cylinder of dough on your work surface. Starting from the midsection and working your way outwards, roll the cylinder into a uniform, 1-inch-diameter rope.
• Prepare your dumpling skin by cutting 3/4-inch portions off of the rope using your first piece as a guide for the remaining ones. Each piece should weigh about 15 grams.
• Flatten each piece by applying firm pressure with the palm of your hand.
• Use your rolling pin to roll each piece into a 3 1/2-inch diameter disc, aiming for a thinner edge and thicker center. Lightly dust the work surface with flour if the dough starts to stick. Proceed to fill and fold the dumpling skins as described below and then repeat cutting/rolling out the dumpling skins and filling/folding them, one section of dough at a time.
• Place a dumpling skin in the palm of your hand and add a tablespoon of the filling into the skin. Depress the filling into the skin with your spoon, cupping your hand so that the filling is married to the dumpling skin. Repeat with remaining dumpling skins.
• To form the Xiao Long Bao, place your prepared dumpling skin in the palm of your left hand. With your right thumb and middle finger, grasp the edge of the dumpling skin at about 2 o'clock (if it were a clock).
• With your left thumb gently depressing the filling, twist your left wrist in a clockwise motion. This will create a pleat for your right hand to seal. Continue pleating all the way around the top of the dumpling.
• As you reach the end of the pleating, you can release the grasp of your left thumb, while continuing to twist and seal the pleats with your right hand. It won't be pretty at first, but as you practice the concept described above, it will become natural.
• Don't worry about the look-the important part is the seal, so just be sure to pinch any gaps shut. At this point, you can freeze your dumplings on a parchment-lined sheet tray if not cooking right away.
• Bring your steamer to a full boil. Place dumplings in your steamer basket. To prevent your dumplings from sticking to your steamer, cut a piece of parchment paper to size and perforate with a fork. You can also use a leaf of napa cabbage, or a light coating of oil.
• Cook for 6 minutes at a full steam (8 minutes if steaming from frozen). Rest for 2 minutes before consuming. Serve steamed Xiao Long Bao with a dipping sauce of Chinkiang vinegar (Chinese black vinegar) and a pinch of raw ginger julienne.