At the table
Lift gently onto a spoon and make a small opening to let steam escape. Allow the broth to cool before sipping, then eat the filling and wrapper. Add a little vinegar and shredded ginger if you like. Avoid putting a whole hot dumpling straight into your mouth.
Contains pork and wheat. A representative filling also uses soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine, which matter for allergies and alcohol avoidance. Other fillings may include seafood. Ask about the version served; the soup inside can burn.
One pork version seasons the filling with soy sauce, salt, sugar, ginger, white pepper, sesame oil and Shaoxing wine. Aspic may be scented with scallion and ginger. Vinegar and shredded ginger are separate accompaniments; other fillings and aspic recipes vary.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
Ginger and black vinegar may accompany the buns. Nanxiang-style pork fillings can include pork-skin jelly, which melts during steaming, and wrappers may combine different wheat flours. Other fillings are also made.
Typical ingredients
In some versions
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
Savory
- Chili heat
- Texture
- Thin wrapper with hot liquid filling.
- How it’s made
- Enclose pork and jellied broth in thin dough, then steam.
Ginger and black vinegar may accompany the buns. Nanxiang-style pork fillings can include pork-skin jelly, which melts during steaming, and wrappers may combine different wheat flours. Other fillings are also made.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Shanghai.
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有小笼包吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
Broth inside a delicate wrapper
This account describes a tradition or story, rather than an established historical fact.
The name xiǎolóng (小笼) means a small steamer basket. In Shanghai’s Nanxiang tradition, thin pleated wrappers hold pork and cooled pork-skin jelly. Steam turns the jelly into broth inside the dumpling. Keeping the delicate wrapper intact lets you taste the soup, filling and dough together, which is why lifting and eating slowly are part of the experience.
