Get your claws into 'Xiaolongbao'(2)

When done right, xiǎolóngbāo should be what the folk saying describes: "when you pick up a bun, the thin skin will not break; the bottom will not leak; the creamy broth will fill your whole mouth; and the taste is exquisite yet not greasy." (夹起 不破皮,翻身不漏底,一吮满口卤,味鲜不油腻.) In addition, their appearance also constitutes a sort of artform. It takes great skill to make the xiǎolóngbāo that food lovers cannot live without. Chef Zhan Zhiming from the Michelin Star restaurant Din Tai Feng says that, in order to qualify as a true xiǎolóngbāo chef, an apprentice needs to undergo three to six months of training to master the techniques of rolling the dough into thin wrapping and folding the stuffing into the wrappers, to achieve a translucent, strong, and resistant paper-thin skin with 18 delicate folds for each bun.

The dining experience ends as you pop the last xiǎolóngbāo down your throat, but it starts with the wait. Even in a restaurant, a fresh xiǎolóngbāo takes time. Perfection always does.

Ingredients:

50g flour 面粉

160g ground pork 猪肉馅

80g crab meat with roe 蟹粉肉

75g green onions (chopped) 葱

75g ginger (minced) 姜

45g salt 盐

45g sugar 糖

25ml water 水

Step 1: For the dough: mix 50g of flour and 25ml of water in a large bowl (2:1 ratio). Stir and knead until the dough becomes smooth and nonsticky. Roll the dough evenly into a long roll and pinch or cut the roll into cylindrical sections about two centimeters in diameter. Seal them with plastic food wrap so no air gets in and set for 20 minutes.