Xiaolongbao (Soup Dumplings)
Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality
Delicate steamed dumplings filled with pork and hot broth, eaten with a bite-and-sip technique to avoid burning your mouth. Shanghai's most iconic snack.
Why visit Xiaolongbao (Soup Dumplings)?
Xiaolongbao's defining feature, the broth sealed inside the dumpling, comes from wrapping the filling around a gelatin made from set pork stock, which melts back into liquid broth once steamed. That technique is specific to the wider Jiangnan region around Shanghai, which is why the dish is treated as a regional specialty rather than a generic dumpling style found everywhere in China. The dumpling skin also has to be thin enough to be delicate but strong enough not to tear under the weight of the broth, which is part of why skill in making them is genuinely visible in the final product.
How to experience it
The standard technique is to lift the dumpling carefully by the top knot, bite a small hole near the top, and sip the broth out before eating the rest — biting straight through the middle the way you would with a regular dumpling usually results in scalding broth spilling out or burning your mouth. They're served immediately out of the steamer, so there's little point in letting them sit and cool for long, since the skin can become slightly tougher as it cools. Most restaurants serve them in small steamer baskets meant for one or two people to share as part of a larger meal, not as a standalone main course.
Tip
Bite a small hole in the top first to let steam escape, then sip the broth before eating the rest — biting straight in will burn your mouth.