Homemade Chinese Soup Dumplings Xiaolongbao (小笼包) (100% From Scratch)

If you’ve ever had the chance to eat Chinese Soup Dumplings (a.k.a. Shanghai Soup Dumplings or xiao long bao), we think you’ll love this classic recipe. It takes a bit more time and effort to pull off than regular dumplings or even potstickers, but when you taste your first (perfectly chewy, piping hot soupy pork-filled) bite, you’ll know it was worth making them at home.

This dim sum recipe has 3 main components — a 2-ingredient dumpling dough, a naturally gelatinous meat stock (no commercial gelatin added), and a very tasty seasoned fatty pork filling. This is a perfect recipe to make this weekend and a really great way to celebrate the Chinese New Year. No matter where you live, soup dumplings are always just one recipe away. 

What are Chinese Soup Dumplings (a.k.a. Xia Long Bao)?

Chinese soup dumplings are dumplings that are traditionally made with a simple pork filling surrounded by a flavorful broth (soup) encapsulated inside a thin dumpling wrapper. And they’re one of the tastiest things you’ll probably ever eat. Many different styles of soup dumplings can be found throughout China, but the original was born in Jiangsu province. Shanghai happens to be the largest city within this province which is why most foreigners call soup dumplings, “Shanghai soup dumplings”.

We’ve eaten soup dumplings in Beijing (called Zha Jiang Mian), NYC, and Shanghai, and the best ones always start with a “paper-thin” chewy dumpling wrapper that’s filled with a mound of deliciously seasoned pork, crab, veggies, or a combo of all three floating in lip-smacking broth (reminiscent of Japanese Ramen broth). 

Typically this collagen-rich aspic (gelatinous meat stock) is made with the addition of pork skin (which is naturally full of gelatin). Regardless of whether you add additional pork skin (beyond what’s on the pig’s foot) or not, the stock is superbly gelatinous because it’s made with cuts of pork, chicken, or beef that contain high amounts of collagen (i.e. connective tissue, tendons, cartilage, bone, and ligaments) — and these parts are culinary gold.

What is the Soup in Chinese Soup Dumplings?

As mentioned above, the aspic or stock (which makes up the soup inside of soup dumplings) is made using collagen-rich pig and/or chicken cuts (i.e. pigs’ feet, pork skin, chicken feet, and chicken backs) which are slow-simmered with aromatics like scallions, ginger, carrot, Shaoxing wine, etc. resulting in a stock that is full of flavor and when chilled, firms up like Jello. 

Although pork and chicken are most common for making the stock, I’ve used a combination of beef short ribs and pig’s feet as well and it’s also delicious. The Soup dumpling mystery has been solved.

While this type of dumpling takes a little more time to make, if you break up the individual components into smaller tasks, you’ll see that none of them is difficult or overly complicated. It’s just a matter of setting aside the time to first make the gelatin stock (the soup) at least the day before and making the dough and the pork filling either the day before or on the same day you intend to fill and cook the dumplings.

How do You the Get Soup into Soup Dumplings?

Once the aspic has been made, it’s chilled in the refrigerator overnight and basically turns into meat “jello”. The next day the fat has risen to the top (making it easy to skim off) and all that’s left to do is to dice the gelatin into chunks and mix them into the pork filling mixture.

The dumplings are filled and steamed for 8 minutes which cooks the meat and liquefies the gelatin stock leaving you with a perfectly cooked dumpling ball swimming in a lava-hot soup inside the dumpling. If you’re wondering how not to burn your mouth when you eat these dumplings, there’s a technique. Keep on reading for a quick tutorial (so you don’t accidentally scald the roof of your mouth). 

Below in photos, you can see on the left the soup dumpling with the aspic not very well combined into the pork mixture. This can create soup dumplings that have uneven amounts of soup in them. In order to get an even distribution of soup into all of the soup dumplings, mix the aspic into the mixture as seen in the photo on the right side. You can still see bits of aspic, but not huge chunks. 

How to Eat Chinese Soup Dumplings — (a Complete Survival Guide)

In NYC, Joe’s Shanghai was our go-to restaurant anytime we had a craving for soup dumplings. All of the food here is delicious, but you can’t leave without first ordering the soup dumplings — your choice of pork and crab filling, or just pork filling. I recommend ordering both. The dumplings are brought to the table in the same bamboo steamers that they’re cooked in and are usually resting on a bed of cabbage leaves (you can also use banana leaves or parchment paper).

Gently grab the dumpling near the knot (the pleated top) with a pair of tiny serving tongs (or chopsticks), dip it into the black vinegar dipping sauce, place the dumpling onto your spoon, then use your chopsticks to hold the dumpling in place while you nibble a tiny hole out of the side to release some of the steam and magma-hot soup (which flows out onto the spoon), you slurp a little soup, then eat the rest of the dumpling. You can have some serious mouth burns if you don’t bite a hole first.

The golf-ball-size dumplings are steamed for about 8 minutes before arriving straight to your table seconds later. In other words, they’re really hot. Below is an illustration from Joe’s website that was written and illustrated by the cartoonist Robert Zimmerman showing unsuspecting newcomers how to eat a Shanghai soup dumpling. The image is a bit grainy but provides a good visual of this eating experience. 

 

How to Make Soup Dumplings at Home the Easy Way

In my opinion, the easiest way to make soup dumplings at home is to divide the tasks up over a couple of days. If you break the individual tasks up into smaller tasks it’s not only easier but seems like a lot less work. Here is my recommended timeline for preparing each component of soup dumplings. If you have a helper in the kitchen the day you assemble the dumplings, it’s even easier because one person can roll the dumplings while the other person fills and seals them. 

1. 1 to 4 days before you want to eat the dumplings:  MAKE THE GELATIN STOCK. You can easily make the stock on just about any night of the week since it has a long simmer time and is very low maintenance. Just be sure to allow enough time for the stock to cool down before straining it, cooling it, and popping it into the fridge before you go to bed. Keep it in the refrigerator until the day you plan to fill the dumplings.
2. 1 day before you want to eat the dumplings: MAKE THE PORK FILLING. Prepare the pork filling by adding everything EXCEPT the gelatin stock. The gelatin stock will be added on the day you fill the dumpling wrappers. Having the pork filling prepared in advance not only feels like less work on the day you assemble the dumplings but the filling will also have time for all of the flavors to develop.
3. The day you want to cook the dumplings:
   • MAKE THE DUMPLING DOUGH & ROLL THEM OUT.
   • Prepare the dumpling dough and allow it to rest for 30 minutes (and up to 3 hours). Cut the dough into equal pieces & roll them out. *FYI, you can also make the dumpling dough, wrap it in sustainable cling film, refrigerate it overnight (and up to 2 days) and roll them out the same day you want to fill the dumplings.
   • ADD THE GELATIN STOCK TO THE PORK FILLING & FILL THE DUMPLINGS, and STEAM (or Freeze). It’s nice to have one person rolling out the dough while the other is filling and sealing them, but it’s also easy enough to do by yourself.

Chinese Soup Dumplings Ingredients

These soup dumplings are 100% made from scratch including the pork and chicken aspic (gelatin stock). However, it’s possible to use commercial gelatin as a shortcut to achieve the Jello-like consistency of store-bought stock. But in my opinion, it’ll never taste as good as a slow-simmered (or pressure-cooked) naturally seasoned homemade collagen-rich broth. The soup is the star of this dish because it’s what sets these dumplings apart from all other dumplings. Having made it both ways, I can say I prefer homemade to the shortcut any day.

FOR THE DOUGH 

• 1 cup bread flour or all-purpose flour (121g to 130g)*
• 6 tablespoons warm water (90g)

FOR THE GELATIN STOCK (the soup) *Use any leftover stock to make homemade ramen.

• 1 pig trotter (about 1 pound), split in half (450g)
• 1/2 pound chicken backs or pork skin, sliced into strips (225g)
• 1/4 of a medium yellow or white onion (45g)
• 2 garlic cloves (10g)
• 1/2 inch knob of fresh ginger (3g)
• 1/2 leek (1 1/2 ounces) (white and light green parts) (45g)
• 1 scallion, whole (white and green parts) 
• 1/4 medium carrot (15g)
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (15g)
• 1 teaspoon dried porcini mushrooms or 2 fresh shitake mushrooms (optional)
• 6 cups water (1416g)
• salt to taste

FOR THE FILLING 

• 1 pound of fatty ground pork (70% meat/30% fat ratio) (450g)
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (15g) (sub dry sherry)
• 2 teaspoons scallions, finely minced (green parts only) 
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (2g)
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar (3g)
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon soy sauce (24g)
• 3 tablespoons water (45g)
• 1 tablespoon ginger, julienned (15g)
• 1 1/2 cups gelatin stock, chilled and diced into 1/4-inch cubes (350g)
• salt to taste

TO SERVE (traditional dipping sauce)

• 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar (Chinkiang or Zhenjiang vinegar)
• fresh ginger, julienned, to taste
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce (optional)

*Depending on the flour you are using and its absorption potential and the humidity in the environment you’re working in, 1 cup of flour may weigh more or less around 121g to 140g. 

How to Make Homemade Chinese Soup Dumplings (xiao long bao)

Each component of this dish is simple on its own to make, but you may find it useful to have a helper in the kitchen when you assemble them. Having one person roll out the dumpling wrappers while the other person fills and seals them is an easy way to break up the duties and makes the task less time-consuming (see above for more tips). But, if it’s just you flying solo in the kitchen, you got this! 

1. Make the gelatin stock (aspic). Add the pork and chicken to a medium pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Remove the meat, dump the water, rinse out the pot, and clean the meat under running water to remove any more impurities.  Place the meat back into the pot. Add all remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 3 hours checking on it periodically. Alternatively, you may use a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time by about half. Allow the gelatin stock to slightly cool, and strain it through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the solids. Place the gelatin stock in a heat-proof glass jar and allow it to cool to room temperature before sealing and refrigerating overnight. 
2. Make the pork filling. Add the fresh ginger to a bowl with 3 tablespoons of hot water and allow the mixture to steep for 30 minutes or more. Discard the ginger or reserve for another use. Add the pork to the bowl of a food processor and process until the pork becomes light and almost paste-like and add it to a large mixing bowl. Add the ginger-infused water and all remaining pork filling ingredients EXCEPT the cubed gelatin stock and salt to taste. Stir the mixture well to combine the ingredients.
3. Test the flavor of the pork filling. Pan-fry a small amount of filling in a lightly oiled skillet, taste it and adjust the seasonings adding salt, a little more soy, scallions, or Shaoxing, etc. if desired. Once you have the filling just right, add the cubed gelatin stock and stir to incorporate. Do not stir too vigorously, just gently enough to combine the two mixtures well. Cover and refrigerate the seasoned filling while you make the dumpling dough. 
4. Make the dumpling dough. Add the flour to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (or to a large mixing bowl), add the warm water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together and you can form a ball out of it. Knead the dough (which will be stiff at first) for 12 minutes in the mixer on speed 2, or by hand for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the dough is much softer and becomes smooth.  If you feel the dough is just too hard to knead, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest 15 minutes before continuing to knead it. Once the dough is fully kneaded, cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. 
5. Roll out the dumpling wrappers. After the dough has rested, roll the dough into a log about 6-8 inches long. Cut the dough into equal pieces (about 12 grams each). Cover the dough pieces with sustainable cling film to keep them from drying out. Lightly dust a work surface or non-stick dough mat with a little flour and roll each dough piece out to about 3 inches in diameter. Dust the wrappers with cornstarch and stack them on top of one another and cover with a damp towel to keep them from drying out.
6. Prepare the bamboo steamer. Line the bottoms of the steamer with fresh cabbage leaves, banana leaves, or parchment paper that has slits cut in it. If using cabbage or banana leaves brush them with vegetable oil first which keeps the dumplings from sticking. 
7. Fill the dumplings. Place a dumpling wrapper in the palm of your hand, add a heaping tablespoon of filling and make as many pleats as you can while using your thumb to keep the filling enclosed inside of the dumpling as it’s being sealed. Do your best to get 10 to 18 total pleats. Be sure to seal the dumplings closed at the top by twisting and pinching them. Place filled dumplings into the bamboo steamer about 2 inches apart (it’s best if they’re not touching because it reduces the chance of them tearing open when removing them from the steamer. If your mixture starts to become difficult to fill, place it into the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to allow it to firm up before moving on. 
8. Cook the dumplings. Add enough water to a sauté pan or wok that you can steam the dumplings for 8 minutes without running out of water. Never allow the water to have contact with the dumplings while steaming. When the water is boiling, add the steamer baskets,  cover with the lid, and cook for 8 minutes. Remove the steamer basket and serve with dipping sauce (see the main post for how to safely eat soup dumplings), Enjoy!

Chinese Soup Dumplings xiaolongbao (小笼包) recipe step-by-step photos

Can You Put Uncooked Soup Dumplings in the Fridge?

DO NOT PUT UNCOOKED DUMPLINGS IN THE REFRIGERATOR. If you refrigerate uncooked dumplings the filling (which has moisture in it) will start to break down the wrapper making it soggy and creating tears thus ruining your precious dumplings. In fact, these types of dumplings should be steamed or frozen right away.

Can Xiao Long Bao (Xiaolongbao) Soup Dumplings Be Frozen?

Yes, you can freeze Chinese soup dumplings. Xiao long bao (unlike regular dumplings, wontons, and potstickers) can be sensitive to tearing open if they’re not cooked or frozen very soon after being filled. This is because of the addition of the gelatinous meat stock that gives them their soup-like filling.

If you plan to freeze xiao long bao (小笼包): working in batches, line a sheet tray with parchment and dust it with a little flour or cornstarch, and add filled xiao long bao making sure they are not touching one another and place them in the freezer overnight, or until frozen. Once the xiaolongbao are completely frozen, you may add them to a parchment-lined airtight container and freeze them for up to 3 months. To cook frozen xiaolongbao, place frozen soup dumplings about 1 inch apart into a lined bamboo steamer set over boiling water (do not let the dumplings have contact with any water) and steam for 10 to 13 minutes.  

How Do You Reheat Cooked Xiao Long Bao (Xiaolongbao) Soup Dumplings?

Soup dumplings are fragile and can tear easily so reheating them isn’t ideal, but it’s definitely possible. In the rare event that you will ever have any uneaten cooked soup dumplings in your fridge, you can gently reheat them by steaming them in a lined bamboo steamer set over boiling water. Do not allow the water to have any contact with the dumplings and do not allow the dumplings to touch each other because they can tear. Steam them for about 3 minutes and gently remove them to a bowl using a spatula (do not pick them up from the tops which can cause them to tear open). 

How to Pleat and Seal a Dumpling Wrapper

Some dumpling experts can make as many as 18 pleats, but unless you’re making these on a regular basis or have a lot of practice, they probably won’t look perfect and you may not get more than 12 to 14 pleats and that’s ok. And if you 5 total pleats, no one will mind. They’ll still taste great. Just be sure to seal them at the top. 

1. Hold the wrapper in the palm of your hand, and add a small mound of filling to the middle. Use your thumb to keep the filling in the middle as you make the pleats using your other thumb and forefinger. Close it with the final pleat and give it a gentle twist. 

Having Trouble Pleating Your Homemade Soup Dumplings?

If you’re having trouble making pretty pleats, just do the best you can and remember that as long as you don’t over-fill them, and you’re able to twist them closed at the top, you’re dumplings will taste amazing ♡. Mine were totally imperfect as you can see, but they were just as good as any soup dumplings I’ve eaten. 

Looking for a Few More Delicious Dim Sum or Asian Dishes?

If you love the flavors typically found in Asian, or Chinese cuisine, or looking for new inspired dishes to celebrate the Lunar New Year, here are a few of our favorites to get you started.

• Lucky Lunar New Year Fried Cherry Pie “Wontons”
• Easy Chashu Pork チャーシュー(Marinated Braised Pork Belly Recipe For Ramen )
• Easy Egg Drop Soup with Crispy Fried Wonton Strips (Danhuatang 蛋花湯)
• Thin + Chewy Homemade Chinese Wonton Wrappers
• Easy Homemade 2-Ingredient Chinese Dumpling Dough
• Takeout Style Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry w/Glass Noodles
• Easy Pork and Chive Potstickers w/Sautéed Napa Cabbage & Carrots (Jiaozi)
• Chinese Takeout Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry w/Glass Noodles (a Family Favorite)
• 20-Minute Singapore Mei Fun Noodles (Shrimp Mei Fun)
• Best Ever Chicken Dumplings Recipe (Plump & Juicy Jiaozi)
• Easy and Delicious Pork Potsticker Recipe (Cantonese Style Jiaozi)
• Easy Shrimp and Vegetable Stir Fry (w/Cantonese Style White Sauce)
• Crispy Pork and Chive Spring Rolls w/Glass Noodles & Vegetables (Sautéed Napa Cabbage, Carrots)
• Steamed Pork & Chive Money Bag Dumplings (Beggar’s Purse Dumplings)

Let’s get started!

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