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Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)
Equipment
- Steamer
Ingredients
Aspic aka Beef Jelly
- 16 oz beef broth (about 2 cups) can add additional seasoning to boxed broth by sauteeing scallions and ginger and sprinkle of white pepper
- 2 tsp agar agar powder
Dough
- 1⅔ cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup hot water
Filling
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 tbsp scallion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic (grated)
- 2 pieces of ginger (grated)
- 1-1½ tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tsp sesame oil
- 1-1½ tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1-1½ tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 tsp sugar
- ⅛ tsp white pepper
Dipping Sauce
- 2 tbsp chinkiang vinegar
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- ¼ tbsp soy sauce
- julienned ginger
- julienned scallion
- sprinkle of sugar (or honey)
Instructions
Aspic aka Beef Jelly
- Prepare broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling add the agar agar powder and stir for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and place in a shallow dish.
- Let cool and set in fridge for at least 45 min or 24 hours, till all liquid has formed a jelly.
Dough Wrappers
- Boil water and add salt to dissolve.
- In a bowl add flour and gradually add the hot water to stirring slowly.
- Once dough is shaggy, work the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes.
- Then form a ball, wrap in saran wrap, and rest for 30 minutes.
- When dough is ready, cut ball into 4, roll into a log and then cut 1-2 inch pieces.
- Individually roll out each piece to a disk, not too thin because then soup will seep out.
Filling
- Add all filling ingredients (pork, scallion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, oyster sauce, sugar, and white pepper)
Bringing It All Together
- Remove the aspic from the fridge and dice. Add some to the filling mix and set some aside to top off the dumplings
- Taking the rolled out wrappers, spoon about a tablespoon of the filling along with a little extra aspic into the wrappers
- Begin pleating the dumpling to seal and then twisting the top to ensure its closed.
- Steam for 10-12 minutes. While waiting, prepare the dipping sauce. And then ENJOY
Video
A Note About the Dough
I’ve told you once, and ill tell you again – I am no pro! I am still very much a work in progress. And so is this recipe. The dough was a struggle folks, so if you have a suggestion please drop it here. I
Update: I have now made this recipe three times. The dough was difficult again the second time, but on the third time I cheated. I used two wonton wrappers overlapping like a venn diagram – y’all time saverrrr! And I am definitely pinching them wrong, but it becomes irrelevant cause I want them out of my hands and in my belly. DO whatever makes YOU happy!
A Little Background
I grew up in Sunset Park, Brooklyn and during the 90s-2000s the neighborhood made a major cultural shift. Originally, there was a large Italian Community along the avenue I lived. However, I was too young to remember this and I only remember a handful of Italians. As I got older, the area became predominantly Asian.
In my opinion, Sunset was always an extremely diverse and multicultural neighborhood that varied by avenue. On 8th Avenue, which was the avenue I lived on, it was mostly Asian. But if you went up towards 9th to 13th Avenue, it was the Hasidic Jewish Community. If you went down towards 7th to 4th Avenue, it was the Hispanic Community. The amount of variety of food and culture you could get by Avenue was my favorite thing.
Basically, I had a lot of different food experiences outside of my own culture and it is probably why I love experimenting with food. My dad and I frequented the Avenue trying a plethora of Asian restaurants that were ridiculously cheap at the time. We were regulars at Pacificana, the best dim sum in my opinion, and one day my dad ordered the Xiao Long Bao. I had never had it so I was curious because my dad called them Soup Dumplings – two things you know I adore!
Intro to XLB (Xiao Long Bao Soup Dumplings)
Out came these fat little plump dumplings and there was no soup! My dad very funnily looked at me and said “the soup is inside, be careful, it’ll burn you” and then proceeded to model how to eat it properly and avoid a blistery tongue. I have been hooked on these soup dumplings ever since! It was the coolest culinary thing I had ever experienced up until that point in my life. And I always wondered how the heck they got the soup in there! So, now that I have this platform, some bucks in the bank, some time on my hands, I let the experimentation run and while I haven’t necessarily mastered it, it’s still pretty dang good.
If you have some time, some helping hands hanging out, I suggest having some soupy dumpling fun, but it is work! It is also a lot easier to just pay eight buckaroos and have it served on a platter, but you’ll never know until you try!
