Thin skin, tender filling and a burst of hot soup — Shanghai's xiaolongbao is the city's delicacy.
The soul of Shanghai xiaolongbao is all in that mouthful of broth.
In the early morning, queues form outside Shanghai's old xiaolongbao shops. When the bamboo steamer opens, a basket of dumplings arrives, their skins so thin you can glimpse the broth inside. Pick one up, bite a small hole, sip the hot soup, then dip in vinegar and eat it whole.
The history of Shanghai xiaolongbao goes back more than a century. A chef in Nanxiang improved the traditional soup dumpling by adding jellied stock to the filling, which melted into broth when steamed. The Nanxiang xiaolongbao became famous across Shanghai and is now an intangible cultural heritage.
The skin must be thin but never breaking. It is rolled thick in the middle and thin at the edges, pleated at the top so the dumpling holds a full spoonful of soup. The filling is pork with jellied stock, savoury and juicy, bursting when bitten.
There is a rhyme for eating xiaolongbao: 'lift gently, move slowly, open a window first, then drink the soup.' Bite a small opening, blow to cool, sip the broth, dip in ginger vinegar, and finish in one mouthful — this is the Shanghai ritual.
Today xiaolongbao has spread to cities across China and beyond. But Shanghai people still measure it against the old shops: freshly pleated, steamed to order, with a plate of ginger and vinegar and a pot of tea — a satisfying Shanghai morning.
When you visit Shanghai, find an old shop and order a basket of xiaolongbao. Near Nanjing Road or Yu Garden, watch the masters fold the dumplings and listen to Shanghainese around you — the city's refinement lives in that one basket.
