Xiaolongbao are Chinese soup dumplings, filled with a spiced meat mix and gelatinised soup, giving you the most amazing parcel of meaty soup to eat. But the world has so many amazing soups, why not try them all.
We're going to start this recipe by making our stock. Now before we start, you can most definitely use packet stock or stock cubes, so if you do, skip to step 2! But if you want to make the Ashkenazi chicken soup at home, add chicken into a pot of cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiled, remove, drain and clean wings with cold water, before putting back into a pot of cold water, with all the aromatics. Cook this for a minimum of 2 hours, but the longer the better!
Once you're happy with the flavours of the soup, strain and add gelatine according to the instructions on the packet, and allow to set in the fridge.
For the meat filling, mix the minced chicken with the seasonings and grated veg, before cutting up the gelatinised soup and folding into the filling.
To make the soup dumpling wrappers, grab a mixing bowl of your flour, and start adding the hot water (this means straight from the kettle). Mix and then add the room temp water, kneading once the dough comes together for about 5-7 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for 45 minutes.
Once rested, roll the dough into a sausage and cut into 15g pieces. Flour your surface with a 1:1 ratio of flour and cornstarch, before smacking the pieces of dough into a rough disk, and rolling it out into a circle, where the middle is slightly thicker than the edges.
Take the rolled out dumpling wrappers, and fill with a small spoonful of meat mixture. Using your thumb and index finger, fold the edges onto themselves creating pleats. This will get easier the more you do!
Once all the meat has ben wrapped, place in a bamboo basket with parchment paper, and steam for 8 minutes.
Now after all that work, you may enjoy the fruits of your labour!
