History

Xiao long bao left Shanghai's Nanxiang district in the 1870s and reached the United States via Taiwanese immigration in the 1980s. Joe's Shanghai, founded in Flushing in 1995 by Joe Si, popularised the dumpling among non-Chinese New Yorkers; a Manhattan-Chinatown branch on Pell Street opened in 1997. Din Tai Fung's American expansion in the 2010s set a polished comparison point, but the editorial centre of soup dumplings in New York remains the small Flushing rooms (Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao on Prince Street, Shanghai You Garden in the New World Mall) where the wrappers are pleated to 18 folds by hand each morning.

Common allergens: Gluten, Shellfish

Make it at home

Yield Makes 24 dumplingsHands-on 1 hr 30 minTotal 4 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 300g pork skin (for the broth gel)
  • 1 chicken carcass
  • 30g ginger, sliced
  • 3 spring onions
  • 1L water
  • 300g ground pork shoulder (20% fat)
  • 15g soy sauce
  • 15g Shaoxing wine
  • 5g sesame oil
  • 5g fine sugar
  • 3g salt
  • 5g grated ginger
  • 300g plain flour
  • 150g hot water (90C)
  • Black vinegar and julienned ginger to serve

Method

  1. Simmer pork skin, chicken carcass, ginger and spring onions in the water for 3 hours. Strain, season lightly, pour 2cm deep into a tray. Chill until firmly set, then dice into 5mm cubes.
  2. Mix ground pork with soy, wine, sesame oil, sugar, salt and grated ginger. Fold in 200g of the chilled aspic cubes. Chill 30 minutes.
  3. Pour the hot water into the flour and mix with chopsticks. Knead 5 minutes into a smooth dough. Rest 30 minutes covered.
  4. Divide dough into 24 portions. Roll each to a 9cm round, thinner at the edges than the centre.
  5. Place a heaped tablespoon of filling on each round. Pleat 14 to 18 folds around the rim, twisting closed at the top.
  6. Steam in bamboo baskets lined with parchment for 9 minutes from cold water.
  7. Serve in the basket with black vinegar and ginger. Lift each dumpling with chopsticks onto a spoon, nip the skin, sip the broth, then eat.

Tip from the editors. If the aspic melts during pleating you have not chilled it long enough. Work in batches of six, keep the rest covered and cold.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat soup dumplings

Soup dumplings in New York City

Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao ★ 4.6

Chinese$$flushing

Nan Xiang on Prince Street in Flushing pleats soup dumplings to 18 folds in New York City. Pork, pork-and-crab, and a green truffle-pork basket on weekends.

Signature: Soup dumplings, Pork-and-crab xiao long bao

Order: Pork-and-crab xiao long bao, basket of eight.

Tip: Take the 7 train to Flushing-Main Street; the room runs 60-minute waits at lunch. No reservations; expect a buzzer.

39-16 Prince Street #104, Flushing, NY 11354 Book →

Joe's Shanghai ★ 4.2

Chinese$$chinatown

Joe's Shanghai on Bowery has popularised the soup dumpling in Manhattan's Chinatown in New York City since 1997. Cash-friendly, big rooms, family-style sharing.

Signature: Soup dumplings, Drunken crab

Order: Pork-and-crab xiao long bao, eight per basket.

Tip: No reservations; expect 30 minutes at peak weekend lunch. Bring cash to speed up the tab.

46 Bowery Street, New York, NY 10013 Book →

Tim Ho Wan ★ 4.0

Cantonese dim sum$$east-village

Tim Ho Wan on Fourth Avenue runs the New York City branch of the Hong Kong dim sum house, the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world.

Signature: Baked BBQ pork buns, Steamed pork ribs, Shrimp har gow

Order: Baked BBQ pork buns, three to an order, ordered the moment you sit down.

Tip: Off-peak hours are 14:30 to 17:00 weekdays; weekend lunch hits a 45-minute wait by 12:30.

85 4th Avenue, New York, NY 10003 Book →

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