Popularity grew as bun skin thinned
From a bite-sized bun eaten by Song dynasty royalty in Henan, to a fusion of hua juan, the classic flower-shaped steamed scallion buns, many a story has been told about the origins of one of the most loved snacks in Chinese cuisine, the xiao long bao. This humble pork dumpling has always wowed diners with the magical combination of a thin skin holding a seemingly disproportionately large volume of soup and minced pork. However, one tale about the dumpling's origins suggests that the skin wasn't so thin to begin with.
The story attributes the invention of the xiao long bao to a man named Huang Mingxian, who owned a restaurant in a town called Nanxiang northwest of Shanghai. Around the Tongzhi era (1861-75) of the Qing dynasty, he also set up a cart in Guqi Park, the town's central garden, where he sold pork buns - one of the best-selling snacks in his restaurant. Not surprisingly, these became very popular with visitors to the park. Neighbouring restaurants soon got word of its popularity and began making pork buns, as well, and brought them to the area. Huang needed to stay ahead of the pack, and since his buns were already known to be juicy, he decided to leverage that, making them even juicier by using less pork skin, reducing it to a jelly and adding it to his mince.
Once steamed, the aspic would become a liquid, fusing with the juices from the pork to become a rich soup. As the size of the filling increased, he reduced the thickness of the surrounding bun to keep the result around the same size. Eventually, he mastered the thinning so well that he was able to make the buns' skin as thin as dumpling wrappers.
When Huang retired, he handed his business over to his son, who ventured into Shanghai to peddle xiao long bao outside one of the city's busiest temples. They were a hit, and since then have become a culinary symbol of the city, spreading far and wide. In Hong Kong, xiao long bao enthusiasts can be seen queuing up at Din Tai Fung, located at 68 Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay.