Make Xiao Long Bao soup dumplings from Home with this hack.
A good xiao long bao is one that is filled with flavourful meat in bursting soup juice and a thin almost translucent skin.
Here’s how we do the xiao long bao. The two ingredients for the XLB skin are 400 g all purpose flour and 250 g of water at 75 deg Celsius. Mix the dough in a mixer with a dough hook while adding in the hot water. When the dough is fully incorporated, let the dough rest for 30 minutes. You need to cover the dough with a kitchen towel or using a plate.
After 30 minutes, knead the dough again with the dough hook in the mixer for another 2-5 minutes till the surface of the dough is smooth. Let the dough rest for another 1-2 hour. And keep it covered. The dough will toughen and harden if left uncovered.
Prepare the filling for the XLB. Mixed 1 tsp of finely grated ginger juice, a dash of pepper powder, 1 tsp of soy sauce, ½ tsp of salt, a pinch of sugar, 1 egg, 1 tbsp of finely chopped white onions into 450 grams of minced pork. Mix well in one clockwise direction and store in the fridge while waiting for the dough to relax.
The soup for the XLB needs to be prepared 4 hours in advance. Instead of boiling pork rinds, trotters to create the soup, we have a hack here and it could taste better. Using store bought soup Pork or clear Chicken Broth in, create a jelly like soup base to be wrapped into the XLB later. 500 g of soup with 2 tsp of agar agar powder. Bring the soup broth to a gentle boil and add in 2 tsp of agar agar powder. Mix them well and chill before putting into the fridge to solidify. Once the soup jelly is solidified, divide them in small cubes of 1cm by 1 cm.
Time to assemble the XLB. Dust a clean table top with some flour and roll the dough into a round sheet about 0.5 cm thick.
Cut out the skin using a cookie cutter of diameter 5.5 to 5.8 cm.
Dust each skin with flour as you stack them to prevent them from sticking together.
Here the part that required a bit of practice. Thin out the edges with your finger tips leaving the center of the skin slightly thicker. Load a dollop of minced meat with 1-2 cubes of soup jelly to the centre of the skin. Start by holding a part of the skin with tip of your thumb, using your index and middle finger tips, slowing bring in the skin to form a pleat while pulling the skins inwards gently so that it converges at the centre. All these while pressing down the fillings within gently with the tip of the thumb.
When you reaches the end of the pleats, make a small twist with the skin and leave a small opening at the top to allow the steam to escape. Do not seal it tightly as the juice and steam might likely cause all the juices to leak out and might burst the skin.
Place these on a cheese cloth or baking paper as the skin will stick to the steamer during cooking.
Steam for 10 minutes on low heat. Serve with chilli oil or sesame black vinegar.