Dumpling · Steamed

Xiaolongbao (Soup Dumplings)

Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use

The soup inside isn't injected — it starts as solid pork aspic mixed into the filling, which melts into liquid broth only after steaming, right before it bursts in your mouth.

A thin, hand-pleated wrapper is filled with minced pork and a cube of gelled broth, then steamed in a small bamboo basket until the aspic melts into hot soup inside. Eaten with a dip of black vinegar and ginger.

Why it's made this way: The technique originated in Nanxiang, now within Shanghai's Jiading district, where a baker refined an older soup-bun tradition into a thinner-skinned, broth-filled version in the 1870s.