Xiaolongbao

Allergens at a glance

• UsuallyGlutenWheat flour wrapper; soy sauce and rice wine in the filling; black vinegar dip.
• UsuallySoySoy sauce in the filling and in some dipping sauces.
• OftenCrustaceansCrab (xiefen) and prawn versions are common, and steamers are shared.
• SometimesSesameSesame oil in some fillings.

Usually in the standard recipe. Often in many versions. Sometimes in some kitchens, or a cross-contact risk.

Diets

• Not vegetarian: the soup comes from jellied pork-skin or chicken stock, even in some vegetable versions.
• Not halal as standard: pork filling, pork aspic and Shaoxing rice wine.
• Not suitable for coeliacs (celiacs): the wrapper is wheat.

Recipes change from kitchen to kitchen. If you have an allergy, confirm every ingredient with the restaurant before you order.

What is xiaolongbao?

Xiaolongbao is a small steamed dumpling with a thin, pleated wheat wrapper, a pork filling and a mouthful of hot soup inside. The soup comes from cubes of jellied stock mixed into the filling, which melt as the dumpling steams. The name means "small basket bun", after the bamboo steamer. It comes from the Shanghai area, with the suburb of Nanxiang usually credited.

What's in it

The wrapper is wheat flour and water, rolled thin and folded with many fine pleats. The filling is:

• Minced pork, often with some fat
• Aspic: stock made from pork skin (sometimes with chicken), chilled until it sets, then chopped in
• Ginger, spring onion, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, sugar, salt and white pepper, sometimes sesame oil

They're served in the steamer basket with a dip of black vinegar and fine shreds of ginger. Popular variations include crab meat and roe (蟹粉, xièfěn), prawn and pork, chicken, truffle, and vegetable and mushroom. Tangbao (汤包) are a larger soup dumpling, sometimes drunk through a straw.

Allergens and diets

The wrapper is wheat, so gluten is certain. The filling usually has soy sauce and Shaoxing wine, and the black vinegar dip is often brewed with wheat bran. Soy comes from the soy sauce.

Crustaceans are the main shared risk. Crab and prawn dumplings are steamed in the same kitchens and often the same stacked steamers, where liquid drips from basket to basket. If you have a shellfish allergy, ask how the baskets are stacked and whether they use separate steamers. Sesame oil appears in some fillings.

For vegetarians, the hidden ingredient is the soup. Most of it comes from pork-skin aspic, and some "vegetable" or "chicken" versions still use it. Ask what the soup is made from.

On the menu

Look for 小笼包 (simplified) or 小籠包 (traditional, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong). Prices are usually per basket (一笼, yì lóng) of six to ten. Common descriptors:

• 鲜肉 xiānròu: fresh pork
• 蟹粉 xièfěn: crab meat and roe
• 虾仁 xiārén: peeled prawns
• 鸡肉 jīròu: chicken
• 素 sù: vegetarian
• 汤包 tāngbāo: soup dumpling

How to eat it

Lift one carefully by the knot into your spoon, bite a small hole in the side, let some steam out and sip the soup. Then eat the rest with a little vinegar and ginger. The soup is very hot.

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.