Din Tai Fung Style Xiao Long Bao Soup Dumplings Recipes

XIAO LONG BAO - PORK SOUP DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a pot, add water, bouillon powder, ginger, ham, and onion over medium high heat. When it reaches a boil, lower to medium heat and allow to simmer for eight to ten minutes or until the liquid reduces to half the amount.
• Strain the stock into a bowl and rest for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to concentrate.
• Place the strained stock into the post again and mix in the agar agar powder thoroughly. Wait for the liquid to boil and then remove it from the heat. Place the liquid in a glass container and allow it to rest to cool before moving it into the fridge to set for 45 minutes.
• Measure flour and add into a mixing bowl.
• Boil your water and mix in the salt until it dissolves. Add the hot water carefully into the flour and mix with chopsticks or a spoon. Mix until it becomes a shaggy dough.
• Move the dough onto a floured surface and knead with the heel of your hand. To knead, use the heel of your hand and move the dough upwards, turn in a 45 degree angle and repeat. Continue for eight to ten minutes or until the dough becomes smooth. Cover with a towel or cling wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
• Take the set gelatin stock from the fridge and cut it into bite sized pieces. Reserve about ¼ of the gelatin and put it aside for later.
• In a food processor, add the ground pork, minced green onion, minced ginger, seasonings, and ¾ leftover gelatin. Pulse until the filling is combined, but before it becomes a paste. In between pulses, you can use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides to make sure all parts of the filling is mixed. If you don't have a food processor, you can also use your knife to chop up and mince the filling together. We're trying to adjust the texture of the filling so it is smoother after it cooks.
• After resting, weigh your dough and divide by 50 to know how much to portion out for each wrapper. This should be around seven grams per wrapper for this recipe. Cut each piece of dough according to this measurement. Put cut pieces under a damp towel while you roll out wrappers to prevent them from drying out.
• Take one piece of dough and roll it out into a 2 ½ inch circle. Use the rolling pin to thin out the edges. This should make a three inch circle. Repeat this with the rest of the wrappers. Keep the rolled out wrappers under the damp towel.
• In your left hand (or non-dominant hand), place a wrapper on your palm and add about ten grams of filling in the middle of the wrapper. With the reserved gelatin cubes, add about one or two cubes on top. This will make sure you have extra soup in each bite.
• Using your right hand (or dominant hand), take your pointer finger and thumb and make a fold starting at the top edge of the dumpling and continue to make folds towards your left hand (or non-dominant hand).
• Use your left hand's (or non-dominant hand's) index and pointer finger to guide folds into your other hand. These folds should start to resemble pleating when you pinch the folds together.
• Continue with these folds around the dumpling until you reach the first fold where you can finish pinching the top of the dumpling together in a swirling motion. Always go the same direction you've been folding. The end result should be a swirl or twist on top. There shouldn't be any holes on top.
• To make the dipping sauce, combine equal parts black vinegar and soy sauce (or whatever your preference is). Julienne some ginger and add it to your dipping sauce.
• Line your steamer with lettuce or parchment paper and preheat the steamer on the stove before adding your dumplings.
• Place dumplings in the steamer and cook for about ten minutes per batch. Do not open the steamer before then. After, test one dumpling to see if it's cooked and the gelatin has melted.
• Serve with dipping sauce and eat immediately.

SOUP DUMPLINGS (XIAOLONGBAO)

Steps:

• In a small pot, add the pork skin and pork bones and cover with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil, and immediately drain and rinse off the bones and the skin. This gets rid of any impurities. Rinse out the pot and put everything back in. Add 4 cups (950 ml) water, ginger, scallion and wine. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
• After 2 hours, turn off the heat, allow the soup to cool, and strain the liquid into a bowl. Once the liquid is completely cooled, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• In a mixing bowl, add the flour and the warm water 1 tablespoon at a time. Work and knead the dough for 15-20 minutes. The dough should be very soft and smooth. Cover with a cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Take your ground pork and put it in the food processor. Pulse for 30-60 seconds until the pork resembles paste. In a mixing bowl, add the pork and the rest of the ingredients except the aspic. Whip everything together thoroughly, for about 2 minutes. You want everything to be extremely well combined, and the pork should look like a light, airy paste. Gently fold in the diced aspic, and do not over-mix. Cover and transfer the filling to the refrigerator until ready to make the dumplings. If you're ready now, you can put it in the freezer for 15 minutes to allow it to firm up and make assembling the buns easier.
• Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll the dough into a long cylinder/cigar, about an inch in diameter. Cut the dough into small equal pieces weighing about 11 grams each (the dough chunks should be a size resembling that of gnocchi). Roll out each piece into a round disc about 3 - 3 ¼ inches diameter. Keep everything under a damp cloth.
• Prepare your bamboo steamer. You can line it with cheese cloth, napa cabbage leaves, or these lovely bamboo steamer discs, which can be found in some Chinese restaurant supply stores (if using these, you must brush the discs with oil first!).
• When all that is prepared, take out the filling. You'll be making each bun one at a time. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of your dumpling skin. Pleat with as many folds as you can muster: 12-20 folds should do it. Make sure the top is sealed. If the filling ever gets too wet or hard to handle, put it in the freezer for another 15 minutes and start again.
• Place the buns in the lined steamer basket, about 2 inches apart.
• In a metal steamer pot or wok, boil water. If using a wok, put the water at a level so that when you put the bamboo steamer into the wok, the water rises about ½ inch up the bottom of the bamboo base. You never want the water to touch the dumplings inside, though, so make sure not to fill it too high!
• Once the water is boiling, put the bamboo steamer in the wok or steamer pot, cover with the bamboo steamer lid, and steam over high heat for 8 minutes. Immediately remove the bamboo steamer from the pot and serve.
• Ok, so there is definitely a proper way to enjoy these dumplings. Put away the soy sauce because it has no place on the table right now. What you want is Chinese black vinegar. Pour some out into a small, round dish or bowl, and top with some very thin matchsticks of ginger.
• Take out your two utensils-chopsticks and a Chinese soup spoon (a fork would just butcher these and the soup would dribble out all over the table. It would be a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions).
• Carefully, slowly peel the xiaolongbao off of the steamer basket and dip it into the vinegar. Gently transfer the dumpling to your soupspoon and take a tiny bite out of the skin on the side of the bun to make a little hole. Proceed to slurp the soup out of the bun (Carefully. It's HOT). Then, with a little more vinegar, finish the whole thing off in one bite.