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Posted

This one might be a bit of a challenge, but I want to give it a shot. My girlfriend, our friends, her family, my family - we all love xiao lun bao, AKA soup dumplings or soup buns. I want to know how to make them so I can make my own in big batches for entertaining. I know they'll be a huge hit if I can get them right. I made dumplings a few years ago in college, but I forget how it went across, so I need the basics from the ground up - how to make the skins, filling, broth, etc., and how to construct them.

Any help is appreciated; even Google couldn't find anything helpful. :-/

Thanks!

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside" -Mark Twain

"Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock 'n roll." -Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of The Legend of Zelda, circa 1990

Posted

google works just fine, when you spell it correctly! try "xiao long bao"...

So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."

So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Posted

I found the one recipe at the top of the results, but I was hoping for one that doesn't require pork skin. They don't have that at our local supermarket. :-/

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside" -Mark Twain

"Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock 'n roll." -Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of The Legend of Zelda, circa 1990

Posted

The pork skin is necessary because it adds gelatin, causing the cooked meat mixture to solidify when cool. It's then scooped up, wrapped in the dumpling skins and when they're steamed, the gelatin melts, creating the soup.

I've never made xiao long bao, but I have made a similar type of dumpling. You can try to substitute powdered or leaf gelatin but you'd have to experiment.

Do they have pork belly where you live? Or is there a Chinese market?

Posted

Have you checked the China Forum? I think there is a thread there.

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Ah, it's been way too long since I did a butt. - Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"

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One summers evening drunk to hell, I sat there nearly lifeless…Warren

Posted
I found the one recipe at the top of the results, but I was hoping for one that doesn't require pork skin.  They don't have that at our local supermarket.  :-/

You could sub in some good pork stock with powdered gelatin added. You want it to be about the consistency of medium jello. I don't know off the top of my head how much gelatin that would be but experiment a bit and you should get it.

PS: I am a guy.

Posted

Why can't you make a good gelatinous chicken broth? When I cook down chicken broth made with lots of bony pieces like wings, it often becomes gelatinous when chilled. I'm pretty certain the soup dumplings I've encountered were chicken broth based rather than pork.

Lobster.

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