698 minutes•Medium•Serves 24
Simplified Xiaolongbao (Shanghai Soup Dumplings)
By @chef1
A simplified recipe for the classic Shanghainese soup dumplings, featuring a flavorful pork filling and rich broth, perfect for home cooks.
Recipe Rating
Not yet rated by chefs
Ingredients
- ●2 cups Chicken broth
- ●1 inch Ginger, sliced
- ●2 Scallions, roughly chopped
- ●1 tablespoon Soy sauce
- ●1 tablespoon Gelatin powder
- ●1 pound Ground pork
- ●1/4 cup Finely chopped ginger
- ●2 tablespoons Soy sauce
- ●1 tablespoon Sesame oil
- ●1 teaspoon Sugar
- ●1/4 cup Chopped scallions
- ●for dusting All-purpose flour
- ●2 cups All-purpose flour
- ●3/4 cup Hot water
Instructions
- 1Make the Aspic: In a saucepan, combine chicken broth, ginger, scallions, and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin powder until dissolved. Pour into a container and refrigerate overnight until firm.
- 2Prepare the Filling: In a bowl, combine ground pork, finely chopped ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and chopped scallions. Chop the chilled aspic into small cubes and gently fold into the pork mixture.
- 3Make the Dough: In a large bowl, gradually add hot water to the flour, mixing with chopsticks until a shaggy dough forms. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- 4Assemble the Dumplings: Roll the dough into a long log and cut into 24 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a thin circle (about 3 inches in diameter). Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each circle. Pleat and fold the edges to seal, leaving a small opening at the top.
- 5Steam the Dumplings: Line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper or cabbage leaves. Place the dumplings in the steamer, making sure they don't touch. Steam for 12-15 minutes, or until the skins are translucent and the filling is cooked through.
- 6Serve immediately. Optional accompaniments (not included in nutrition): black vinegar and ginger slices for dipping.
Recipe details
- Cuisine
- Chinese
- Category
- Main course
- Preparation
- 98 minutes
- Cooking
- 85 minutes
Estimated total: 698 minutes. Planning estimate: stated duration ranges use their midpoint; standard preparation, heating and handling allowances are included. Overlapping tasks are counted once. Resting/chilling is included in total time.
How these estimates were calculated
- Prepare aspic aromatics and ingredients: 5 min planning allowance (simple_prep)
- Combine and heat aspic stock: 3 min planning allowance (sauce_heat)
- Dissolve gelatin and transfer to container: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Cool before refrigerator: 5 min planning allowance (brief_cool)
- Refrigerate aspic overnight: 480 min planning allowance (overnight)
- Prepare filling and dice chilled aspic: 5 min planning allowance (simple_prep)
- Mix pork filling and aspic: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Heat dough water: 3 min planning allowance (sauce_heat)
- Mix dough: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Roll fill and pleat twenty-four dumplings: 15 min planning allowance (shape)
- Line steamer with parchment and arrange first batch: 5 min planning allowance (assemble)
- Bring steamer water to boil: 10 min planning allowance (boil_heat)
- Unload cooked batch and reload next six dumplings: 2 min planning allowance (transfer)
- Unload cooked batch and reload next six dumplings: 2 min planning allowance (transfer)
- Unload cooked batch and reload next six dumplings: 2 min planning allowance (transfer)
- Serve dumplings: 2 min planning allowance (transfer)
- Overnight aspic chilling uses the chosen 480-minute allowance; chill until firm. One home cook follows written order. Choose parchment lining, excluded as non-food; no unquantified cabbage added. A single steamer holds six dumplings without touching: 24 dumplings require four serial steaming batches. Shape 24 dumplings using four 15-minute planning blocks, not 24 times a generic block. Follow cooked-filling doneness. Optional dip preparation is excluded.
- Four 15-minute shaping blocks for 24 dumplings; home-cook estimate.
- Six-dumpling steamer capacity, one of four serial batches.
- Two-minute batch-change planning allowance.
- Six-dumpling steamer capacity, one of four serial batches.
- Two-minute batch-change planning allowance.
- Six-dumpling steamer capacity, one of four serial batches.
- Two-minute batch-change planning allowance.
- Six-dumpling steamer capacity, one of four serial batches.
- Chicken broth: USDA cup portion weight
- Selected ready-to-serve chicken broth.
- Culinary ginger estimate: 10 g per inch from Woman’s Weekly Food example; thickness varies, not a universal conversion (https://www.nzwomansweeklyfood.co.nz/recipe/lunch/massaman-curry-4967/).
- Scallions, roughly chopped: USDA medium (4-1/8" long) portion weight
- Assumed '2 scallions' refers to 2 medium scallions.
- Soy sauce: USDA tbsp portion weight
- Selected first available soy sauce option (tamari).
- Gelatin powder: USDA envelope (1 tbsp) portion weight
- Explicit mass quantity uses the matching raw-food nutrients; no household portion is required.
- Finely chopped ginger: USDA cup slices (1" dia) portion weight
- Selected raw ginger root, chopped.
- Soy sauce: USDA tbsp portion weight
- Selected first available soy sauce option (tamari).
- Sesame oil: USDA tablespoon portion weight
- Sugar: USDA tsp portion weight
- Selected granulated sugar.
- Chopped scallions: USDA cup, chopped portion weight
- Selected chopped scallions.
- All-purpose flour: USDA cup portion weight
- USDA enriched white all-purpose wheat flour; chosen conventional flour style.
- All-purpose flour: USDA cup portion weight
- USDA enriched white all-purpose wheat flour; chosen conventional flour style.
- Hot water: USDA serving 8 fl oz portion weight
- Selected tap drinking water.
- Ginger, sliced: original amount “1 inch”; interpreted as “10 g”. Culinary ginger estimate: 10 g per inch from Woman’s Weekly Food example; thickness varies, not a universal conversion (https://www.nzwomansweeklyfood.co.nz/recipe/lunch/massaman-curry-4967/).
- Recipe Studio chosen preparation allowance: All-purpose flour original amount “for dusting”; plain wheat dough dusting = 1 tbsp flour per 250 g measured dough flour, once for the entire recipe across all surface uses. Full chosen amount counted; no retention adjustment.
- Excludes explicitly optional accompaniments: black vinegar and ginger slices for dipping; nutrition covers the listed recipe only.
- Chicken broth: 498 g · USDA reference 174536
- Ginger, sliced: 10 g · USDA reference 169231
- Scallions, roughly chopped: 30 g · USDA reference 170005
- Soy sauce: 18 g · USDA reference 174278
- Gelatin powder: 7 g · USDA reference 169599
- Ground pork: 453.59 g · USDA reference 167902
- Finely chopped ginger: 24 g · USDA reference 169231
- Soy sauce: 36 g · USDA reference 174278
- Sesame oil: 13.6 g · USDA reference 171016
- Sugar: 4.2 g · USDA reference 169655
- Chopped scallions: 25 g · USDA reference 170005
- All-purpose flour: 7.81 g · USDA reference 168894
- All-purpose flour: 250 g · USDA reference 168894
- Hot water: 177.75 g · USDA reference 173647
xiaolongbao · soup dumplings · pork · broth
Estimated nutrition per serving
100 calories · 5 g protein · 9 g carbohydrate · 4.7 g fat · 0.4 g fiber · 215 mg sodium
Source and basis: USDA FoodData Central and reviewed product references; ingredient-based calculation per serving. Documented USDA or manufacturer portion weights; all listed ingredient mass included before cooking losses. Full ingredient matches and assumptions below.
Featured in: Around the World in 80 Meals
Embark on an armchair culinary adventure to Shanghai by making your own Xiaolongbao! This simplified recipe brings the iconic soup dumpling to your kitchen, complete with tips and tricks for success.
Read the StoryRecipe Context
This recipe was created with the following context in mind:
Monday
breakfast
winter
Requested: 8 min
1 person