Din Tai Fung Style Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)

"This recipe is a multistage affair over several days. It is not very difficult to make, just a little time consuming but you will find the dumplings worthwhile. A kind of dim sum or snack item, as well as a kind of xiaochi or "small eat", Xiaolongbao is steamed bun (baozi) from eastern China, especially the regions of Shanghai and Wuxi. Din Tai Fung is an award-winning restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan which specializes in xiaolongbao. They have restaurants in several countries."
 
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photo by Andrew Purcell photo by Andrew Purcell
photo by Andrew Purcell
photo by Andrew Purcell photo by Andrew Purcell
photo by Andrew Purcell photo by Andrew Purcell
photo by Rocketmandiver photo by Rocketmandiver
photo by JBinSFO photo by JBinSFO
Ready In:
5hrs
Ingredients:
27
Yields:
75 dumplings
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ingredients

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directions

  • Three days before, 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 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.
  • Two days before, combine all filling ingredients in large bowl and mix with fork just until blended. Cut aspic into 1/3-inch cubes. Add 1/3 of the aspic cubes to pork mixture; stir gently with wooden spoon just until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate. Return aspic to refrigerator.
  • Mix 1 cup black vinegar, 6 tablespoons soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons fresh ginger strips in small bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
  • One day prior, 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 aspic cubes.
  • 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.
  • Gather top edges of wrapper together and twist at top to enclose filling. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Refrigerate, covered, for 1 day, or freeze in single layer in covered containers for 2 weeks.
  • On the day of, 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.
  • 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.

Questions & Replies

  1. What does aspic mean? I thought it meant Asian the picture, but the recipe refers to adding a as pic cube to pork mixture ? Thank you
     
  2. I tried making this and was looking for other wrapper recipes. I have the taste down, just not the wrappers. So you used premade wrappers and they turned out well?
     
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Reviews

  1. This is a delightful and authentic recipe. I have a Shanghainese partner, and ate these by the layer in shanghai and hongzhou, and have been to Din Tai Fung in Singapore (highly recommended place for good XLB!). I've always wanted to make XLB, and this recipe was easy and worked the first time. Much better than most restaurant XLBs!<br/><br/>The ultimate test was with my 92 year old father in law (pictured), who loved them! He is a very discerning taster of Shanghainese food.<br/><br/>I made the following modifications:I was able to get premade shanghainese dumpling wrappers. I wasn't able to get the black vinegar, so I used half balsamic vinegar and half red wine vinegar. And I substituted a can of low sodium chicken stock as a base to add the green onions, ginger, etc. I then cut back the salt n the rest of the recipe. I prefer steaming a bit longer, as the recommended time gives an al dante wrapper. With our store bought wrappers, 15 minutes and they nearly burst in your mouth. (And I didn't make this over several days, I made it in 1 day). My family suggests adding shopped baby bok choy, so I'll try that next time.<br/><br/>Don't be intimidated by the length of the recipe. If you love good XLB, make this recipe!
     
  2. This is a recipe that I had been searching for the longest time.. I know of the restaurant and i can;t wait to try this one out. Will post a review once we try this one out. Thank you so much for posting.
     
  3. My family went to a popular Chinese Dim Sum in Toronto and we really liked the dumpling that has the soup inside, specially my little son. Since then, I wanted to learn how to make it. After a few minutes searching, I found this recipe and was very excited to try it. It took a long time to make the soup but the filling was easy and simple. My whole family of four sat down together and did the dumpling stuffing together. They enjoyed the activity. Best of all, the dumpling turned out exactly as we expected. We enjoyed every bite. We ate about 1/3 of 75 dumpling and kept the rest in the freezer for two more breakfast. My little son loved it so much that he even want to eat it again the next day. Thank you so much for a perfect recipe!!!
     
  4. long and complicated but totally worth it! freeze the extras so you can have dumplings any time.
     
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