Shanghai Dumplings

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Dumplings! Hands down, one of the foods you must try when you visit Shanghai or China in general.

But what exactly are Shanghai dumplings? Are they different to other Chinese dumplings?

The term dumpling is used to define a wide range of doughy foods in cuisines across the globe. When applied to Asian cuisine alone, the word describes all different kinds of doughy goodies.

Whereas in Chinese there isn’t a single all-encompassing word that covers all the foods we call ‘dumplings’.

For this reason, using the English terminology, all of the following dough balls we discuss are referred to as ‘dumplings’.

The most typical example of Chinese dumplings are probably jiǎozi 饺子 – a dumpling with a meat or vegetable filling with a wrapping of thin pastry, usually steamed, boiled or pan fried. In China, it’s traditional to make and eat jiaozi as a family on Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Although this type of dumpling can be found all over China and even in other parts of East Asia, they are most commonly eaten in northern China.

Xiǎolóngbāo 小笼包

Xiaolongbao are probably exactly what you think about when you think of Shanghai dumplings.

They usually have a pork and soup filling with a thin dough exterior, and are steamed in a little basket (which is where we imagine they got their name).

Abroad, these dumplings are often referred to as ‘Shanghai Xiaolongbao’ or ‘soup dumplings’.

However, soup dumplings aren’t actually from Shanghai. In China, they’re sometimes called “Hangzhou Xiaolongbao”. Hangzhou is another city southwest of Shanghai!

Though the exact origin of these small, soupy buns are up for a debate, what seems clear is that soup dumplings originate from the 江浙沪 Jiāngzhèhù part of China (Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang).

Very tasty xiaolongbao can be found in this area!

You might also see xiaolongbao up northern in cities like Beijing and Tianjin, though the quality is not always the same as the authentic Jiāngzhèhù kind.

Up north, xiaolongbao tend to have fluffier buns and less juicey. One of the delights of eating a good xiaolongbao is trying to carefully drink up the hot soup out of the dumpling before eating the rest in one bite.

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