This article about Vietnamese cuisine is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Wu Chinese-speaking peoples use the traditional definition of “mantou”, which refers to both filled bao bun fillings unfilled buns.
There are numerous styles of xiaolongbao in Jiangsu cuisine. Shanghai-style xiaolongbao originated in Nanxiang, which was a neighboring village of Shanghai in Jiangsu that eventually ended up becoming an outer suburb of Shanghai’s Jiading District. Two specialist xiaolongbao restaurants have a particularly long history. Nanxiang but is now located in the Yu Garden area.
It is famed for its crab-meat-filled buns. Chinese buns, in general, may be divided into two types, depending on the degree of leavening of the flour skin. Buns can be made with leavened or unleavened dough. Those made with unleavened dough use clear water for mixing, the skin is thin and the fillings large.
Xiaolongbao are traditionally filled with pork. More modern innovations include other meats, seafood, shrimp, crab meat, and vegetarian fillings. Soup dumplings are created by wrapping solid meat aspic inside the skin alongside the meat filling. Heat from steaming then melts the gelatin-gelled aspic into soup. In modern times, refrigeration has made the process of making tangbao during hot weather easier, since making gelled aspic is much more difficult at room temperature.
Xiaolongbao are traditionally eaten for breakfast. The buns are served hot in the bamboo baskets in which they were steamed, usually on a bed of dried leaves or paper mat, although some restaurants now use napa cabbage instead. The buns are usually dipped in Zhenjiang vinegar with chili crisp. The buns are usually dipped in Zhenjiang vinegar with ginger slivers. In Guangdong and the West, it is sometimes served as a dish during Cantonese tea time.
Check the nutrition label on your flour package. The protein content should be under 11g per 100g flour. As far as I know, common all-purpose flour in the UK and the US is within this range. It’s the type I use most frequently for bao buns. Cake flour has 8-9g protein in 100g flour, so it delivers the least chewy texture. Another note: as yeast is used as a raising agent in bao buns, do not use self-raising cake flour which is commonly available in the UK. Freshly assembled bao buns ready to be steamed.
I’ve tried several brands of bao flour and I find them lacking in natural wheat flavour. The wrapper rises during the process of steaming. It may vary a little depending on the type and the brand of your flour. For every 500g of flour, you will need 2 teaspoons of dried yeast. Steamed bao bun dressed with chilli oil.