Prawn soup dumplings

1. Make the aspic a day ahead: simmer pork skin or trotters in water with ginger and spring onion for 2–3 hours, strain, and refrigerate overnight until set into a firm gel. Dice into small cubes before using. 2. Roughly chop the prawns — keep some texture by hand-chopping rather than blending. Combine with minced pork, ginger, spring onion, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, white pepper, sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Mix vigorously in one direction until the filling becomes sticky and cohesive. 3. Fold in the diced aspic gelatin gently so it stays intact in the filling. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes to firm up. 4. Place a wrapper in your palm, add about 1 heaped teaspoon of filling to the centre. Pleat the edges by pinching and folding around the top, creating at least 12–16 pleats, and twist to seal tightly. 5. Line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper or cabbage leaves. Arrange dumplings with space between them so they don't stick together. 6. Bring water in a wok or pot to a rolling boil. Place the bamboo steamer on top, cover, and steam for 8–10 minutes until the wrappers are translucent and the filling is fully cooked. 7. Carefully remove the steamer and serve immediately with a dipping sauce of black rice vinegar and Lao Gan Ma crispy chilli oil on the side. Tip: The secret to a soup-filled XLB is the aspic — make sure your pork gelatin stock is very firmly set before dicing and mixing it into the filling. If it's too soft, the dumplings will collapse during pleating and leak before steaming.

No comments yet