Ingredients
- Wheat-flour wrappers
- Pork, sometimes with crab
- A gelatin made from stock, which melts into soup
- Ginger and Shaoxing wine
- Black vinegar and ginger for dipping
How it is cooked
- A stiff meat aspic is chopped into the filling so it is solid while the dumpling is pleated.
- Each wrapper is gathered into many folds. The top should have a small hole of steam, not a tear.
- They are steamed until the aspic melts.
- Lift one, bite a corner, let the broth cool, then eat. The vinegar is on the side, not a bath.
Taste
Hot broth, delicate skin, pork and ginger. Shanghai’s are a little sweeter than some inland versions. Crab season is a different, costlier filling.
Possible allergens
- Wheat in the noodles or wrappers, and often in soy sauce.
- Pork, and crab when the menu says crab.
- Soy sauce, which in China is often brewed with wheat.
- Sesame oil or sesame paste.
- Vinegar is usually safe. The wrapper is not gluten-free.
- A shared wok or a house chili oil can add peanut, sesame, or shellfish even when the recipe does not.