Originally Posted by
LapLap
the 小龙包 (soup dumplings) thread
Thanks to that thread I knew how to eat XLB when I finally got to try them on a short airport transfer stopover with my husband and daughter (China Eastern through Shanghai on the way to Tokyo from London).
Can’t see myself ever making these deftly pleated treasures but I can console myself with being able to grate, steam and fry my own turnip cakes.
i first discovered these around 2001 in hangzhou / Shanghai. Then read in Beijing time out in 2006 that these are made with injected cold or frozen soup so that they thaw & cook during the steaming process. I can’t really recall if it’s injected and I only buy them out of the house. I recently enjoyed Sichuan xlb in Sf on 6/19/22 at bao (next to original slanted door). Like in Shanghai, xlb is pretty common in Sf. Growing up in Sf, I never noticed them because we only had Cantonese / HK style dim sum whether in Chinatown or on Clement / Noriega. I think xlb have become widely available at places in Sf where the dim sum is more China and less regional.
growing up in Sf, it took me decades to even know that Sf was known for Chinese food.