Origins Edit

Shanghai-style xiaolongbao originated in Nanxiang, a suburb of Shanghai in Jiading District.[3] The inventor of xiaolongbao sold them in his first store in Nanxiang next to the town's notable park, Guyi Garden. From there the xiaolongbao expanded into downtown Shanghai and outward. Wuxi style xiaolongbao is sweeter than Shanghai style. Two specialist xiaolongbao restaurants have a particularly long history. One is Nanxiang Mantou Dian (Nanxiang Bun Shop), which derives from the original store in Nanxiang but is now located in the Yu Garden area. It is famed for its crab-meat-filled buns. The other is Gulong Restaurant, at the original site next to Guyi Garden in Nanxiang.[citation needed]

Ingredients Edit

Chinese buns, in general, may be divided into two types, depending on the degree of leavening of the flour skin.[4] Buns can be made with leavened or unleavened dough[citation needed]. Those made with unleavened dough use clear water for mixing, the skin is thin and the fillings large. It is frequently made in Nanxiang but is imitated elsewhere, calling it Xiang-style. Steamed buns made with raised flour are seen throughout China and are what is usually referred to as mantou. Steamed xiaolongbao made with partially raised flour are more commonly seen in the south. This means that their skin is tender, smoother, and somewhat translucent, rather than being white and fluffy. As is traditional for buns of various sizes in the Jiangnan region, xiaolongbao is pinched at the top prior to steaming, so the skin has a circular cascade of ripples around the crown. Xiaolongbao is traditionally filled with pork.[1] One popular and common variant is pork with minced crab meat and roe. More modern innovations include other meats, seafood, and vegetarian fillings. The characteristic soup-filled kind is created by wrapping solid meat aspic inside the skin alongside the meat filling. Heat from steaming then melts the gelatin-gelled aspic into soup. In modern times, refrigeration has made the process of making xiaolongbao during hot weather easier, since making gelled aspic is much more difficult at room temperature.

Serving Edit

Related varieties Edit

The xiaolongbao is one of kind of tang bao ("soup bun") or guantang bao ("soup-filled bun"). Another form of tang bao with a differently-textured skin but about the same size is the xiaolong tangbao, a specialty of Wuhan.[citation needed] Shengjianbao are very similar to xiaolongbao, but are pan fried instead of steamed.

See also Edit