What Are Xiao Long Bao (小笼包)? A Guide to Shanghai's Soup Dumplings

Xiao long bao (xiǎo lóng bāo, 小笼包) are steamed soup dumplings from Shanghai. Each one is a thin-skinned wheat dumpling filled with seasoned pork and — this is the unusual part — a burst of hot, savory broth that pools inside the skin as the dumpling steams. You bite in, the broth floods your mouth, then you eat the rest of the dumpling. That combination of delicate skin, rich meat, and concentrated soup is why xiao long bao are considered one of the most technically demanding dumplings in Chinese cooking.

What Does Xiao Long Bao Mean?

The name translates literally as “small basket buns”: xiǎo (小) means small, lóng (笼) refers to the bamboo steamer basket, and bāo (包) means bun or stuffed dumpling. They're cooked in stacked bamboo steamers — that's where the basket part comes in.

The dish originated in Nanxiang, a town on the outskirts of Shanghai, in the 19th century. The recipe has remained essentially unchanged: thin wheat skin, pork filling, and enough collagen-rich gelatin to produce a pool of broth inside each dumpling as it cooks.

How the Broth Gets Inside

The broth isn't injected. It starts as pork aspic — a gelatin set from simmering pork skin and collagen overnight until the stock solidifies at room temperature. The solid aspic is chopped into small pieces and mixed directly into the pork filling before the dumplings are folded.

When the dumpling goes into the steamer, the aspic melts back into hot liquid, filling the inside of the skin from the filling itself. This is why XLB made with shortcuts (frozen filling, commercial thickeners) taste flat: the gelatin from real pork skin produces a richer, more concentrated broth than any substitute can replicate.

The 18-Fold Pleat

Authentic xiao long bao are hand-pleated at the top with exactly 18 folds — a traditional standard that marks the skill of the dumpling maker. The pleats must be tight enough to hold the broth inside as the dumpling steams, but the skin itself must stay thin. Too thick and the dough overwhelms the filling. Too thin and the skin breaks and the broth escapes before you can eat it.

A skilled XLB chef folds 18 pleats in under 10 seconds per dumpling. The count is traditional, not arbitrary: 18 folds distribute the dough evenly around the opening and create the characteristic twisted crown at the top of each dumpling.

How to Eat Xiao Long Bao Without Burning Yourself

The broth inside is near-boiling when the dumplings arrive at the table. The most common mistake is biting straight in from the top — the broth jets out, burns your mouth, and ends up on your shirt.

1. Lift with chopsticks from the body, not the pleated crown. The crown is the thinnest, most fragile point.
2. Set it in the ceramic spoon provided. The spoon catches any broth that escapes.
3. Bite a small opening at the bottom or side of the dumpling. Do not eat the whole thing at once.
4. Sip the broth first. Let it cool slightly in the spoon. The soup is the best part.
5. Dip in vinegar and ginger. XLB are served with Chinkiang black vinegar and shredded fresh ginger. The acidity cuts through the richness of the pork broth.
6. Eat the rest in one or two bites.

Pork vs. Crab and Pork

Classic xiao long bao are pork only: ground pork, ginger, Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, and the aspic. Crabmeat-and-pork XLB (蟹粉小笼包) is the premium variation. Crab roe and crabmeat are folded into the filling alongside the pork, adding a briny sweetness to the broth that distinguishes it clearly from the pork-only version. Both are worth ordering at least once.

XLB vs. Other Dumplings

• Sheng jian bao (生煎包): pan-fried pork buns, also from Shanghai. Thicker skin, larger size, pan-fried on the bottom until golden and crispy, then steamed to finish. Contains broth inside but is less delicate than XLB.
• Pan-fried dumplings / guōtiē (锅贴): the Mandarin-style dumpling pan-fried to a crispy bottom. No broth inside. Common at Cantonese and Chinese-American restaurants.
• Har gow (虾饺): Cantonese steamed shrimp dumplings with a translucent skin. No broth inside. Not a soup dumpling.
• Tang bao (汤包): a giant soup dumpling, often a single dumpling the size of a small bowl, eaten with a straw. Same concept as XLB scaled up dramatically.

Where to Find Xiao Long Bao Near Rockville, MD

Shanghai Taste at 1121 Nelson St, Rockville, MD 20850 is the standout in the area. It's a women-owned, Asian-owned Shanghainese restaurant that hand-pleats every xiao long bao to 18 folds and makes the filling fresh daily. The Washington Post named them “The Virtuoso of Soup Dumplings” and called their XLB “probably the best of our region.”

Pork XLB are $10.95. Crabmeat-and-pork XLB are $12.95. Pan-fried sheng jian bao are $9.50, available weekends only. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 AM to 9 PM. Call (301) 279-0806.