**The Art of Wrapping Chinese Dumplings**

When it comes to traditional Chinese cuisine, one of the most iconic and beloved dishes is the humble dumpling. Specifically, we're talking about the famous Xiaolongbao, also known as Songza, a type of steamed dumpling that originated in Shanghai. In this article, we'll explore the art of wrapping these delicate morsels, a process that requires patience, skill, and attention to detail.

To start, you'll need some essential ingredients. First, we have pork belly, which is sliced into small pieces and marinated with a mixture of salt, sugar, five-spice powder, light soy sauce, and Lao Xia Qing wine. The marinade helps to break down the connective tissues in the meat, making it tender and flavorful. Next, we have sticky rice, short grain rice that's commonly used in Japanese and Korean cooking. This type of rice is perfect for wrapping dumplings because it holds its shape well when cooked.

We'll also be using dried shrimp, scallops, and shiitake mushrooms to add depth and umami flavor to our Songza. These ingredients are rinsed thoroughly with water to remove any excess salt or impurities, then soaked in hot water for several hours to rehydrate them. After soaking, the rice is drained and seasoned with salt and peanut oil to give it a savory flavor.

Meanwhile, the dried mushrooms are marinated with salt, sugar, light soy sauce, and peanut oil to bring out their earthy flavors. The dried seafood – specifically the scallops – is simply pressed down on with a knife to remove excess moisture, then minced into tiny pieces. These ingredients will be added to our filling along with some mung beans, which are also soaked in water for several hours.

Now that we have all our ingredients ready, it's time to start wrapping our Songza. The first step is to take two bamboo leaves and hold them together like a book, folding the edges towards each other and creating a crease in the center. This will be the foundation of our dumpling wrapper. Next, we add a tablespoon of sticky rice and a half-tablespoon of mung beans to the center of the leaf, followed by two or three slices of marinated pork belly.

We sprinkle some dried mushrooms and seafood over the filling, then add another tablespoon of sticky rice and a half-tablespoon of mung beans. This is where things get tricky – we need to fold the wrapper into a neat package without any air pockets or wrinkles. To do this, we use our thumb and middle finger to guide the leaf as we fold it inward, pressing down on the top to secure the filling inside.

Once we've wrapped our Songza, we tie it up with a piece of dried grass or Baker's twine, making sure the knot is tight and even. This is the final step in creating these beautiful little packages of flavor. Now that we have all our Songza wrapped and ready to go, we can move on to cooking them.

To cook our Songza, we need to bring four liters of water to a boil, then add the filled dumplings to the pot. The heat is turned down to its lowest setting, and the lid is placed on top to trap the steam inside. We let the Songza simmer for five hours, which may seem like a long time, but trust us – it's worth the wait.

After five hours, we remove the Songza from the pot and let them cool down until room temperature. They can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week or reheated quickly in the microwave or steamer. And that's it! With these instructions, you'll be well on your way to creating delicious Xiaolongbao at home.

**Recipe Details**

The recipe makes approximately 35 Songza, which is perfect for sharing with friends and family. To make reheat-ready Songza, simply rinse them under cold water to remove any excess moisture, then microwave or steam them until hot and steaming. You can also keep the cooked Songza in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

**Tips and Variations**

* Make sure to handle your bamboo leaves gently when wrapping your Songza – they can tear easily.

* Experiment with different fillings, such as adding some diced vegetables or herbs to your pork belly mixture.

* If you're having trouble getting your Songza to wrap evenly, try using a bamboo steamer basket to help guide the wrapper into place.

**Conclusion**

Wrapping Chinese dumplings is an art that requires patience, skill, and practice. With these instructions, you'll be well on your way to creating delicious Xiaolongbao at home. Remember to handle your ingredients with care, use the right tools for the job, and don't be afraid to experiment with different fillings and variations. Happy cooking!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso we got a request over on patreon for zongzi or sticky rice dumplings you can have these any time of the year but there's super traditional around Dragon Boat Festival which is coming up this week now there's a bunch of different types of songs uh sweet savory but we wanted to show you our personal favorite a savory sort stuffed with mung beans and marinated pork belly so songs are wrapped with bamboo leaves fresh ones are best but they're seasonal and if you live outside China I imagine that you could only get the dried ones totally fine - either way cut the ends of the leaves off and if using dry leave those to soak in cool water overnight our main stuffing is gonna be pork belly you want to slab a belly with a bit more fat because after cooking that fats gonna melt into the sticky rice in a super delicious way cut 400 grams pork belly into small slices then marinate with a 1/2 TSP salt 1 TSP sugar 1 TSP five-spice powder 1 TSP lgo aka Xiao Qing wine 2 teaspoons light soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of the juice from red fermented tofu do a bang-up job mixing those and let it sit in the fridge overnight of course we'll also need sticky rice this is 1 kilo short grain sticky rice that same sort that's often used in Japanese and Korean cooking we'll also be using a half kilo d shelled mung bean this stuff's actually Nicks mal eyes kind of like hominy in North America you should be able to find it in Chinese supermarkets for some umami we'll be adding in 20 grams dried shrimp 30 grams dried scallop and 60 grams dried shiitake mushroom rinse all these thoroughly especially the rice which you'll do to the water runs clear and let them all soak for at least 5 hours and up to 8 so first thing next morning drain the rice then strain it these bamboo strainers are cool but mesh is fine just let it drain for 1/2 an hour after that water is out season with two and a half tablespoons salt and a hundred grams peanut oil mix all that thoroughly for a minute or two set it aside next do the same with a mung beans out with the water and drain for a half an hour then in a bowl with four teaspoons salt mix it all well and set it aside now drain those dried shitake mushrooms cut off the stems and dice toss in a bowl then marinate with a quarter teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/4 TSP light soy sauce and a quarter teaspoon peanut oil mix well and set aside for 10 minutes next up our dried seafood an easy way to go at soaked dried scallops is to simply press down on them with a knife like this then mince those guys and set them aside now before wrapping take out your leaves and gently wipe them dry once you've worked through all those we can finally wrap some zones ooh this will take some practice so watch carefully first take two bamboo leaves leaving about a 1 inch overlap hold them like a book and fold up twisting slightly crease the inside and this gets us something that kind of looks like an ice cream cone that's where the filling will go now grab another leaf tuck it in between those two leaves and this is gonna kind of be like a leaf extension for us to wrap this guy a little easier now add in a tablespoon of the sticky rice and a 1/2 tablespoon of the mung beans pat down gently and nestle in 2 to 3 slices of the marinated pork belly sprinkle in a bit of the dried mushrooms ditto with the dried seafood then 1/2 a tablespoon of the mung bean again a tablespoon of the sticky rice again and now we're ready for the tricky bit we'll fold over this leaf but when you do place your thumb and middle finger at roughly the top of your filling pressing gently this guides the leaf to fold inward press down on the top so things are tight then fold increase this excess down both on the left and right sides press and crease the leaf on the top hotdog style then fold it back towards the bottom this guy's good to tie up now so while never letting go of the Songza grab a piece of dried grass or Baker's twine wrap it around tightly and tie it off work through the songs uh this recipe makes about 35 so splitting the job with friends or family is ideal now get about four liters of water to a boil and toss in your zones uh we slightly underestimated our water here so top it off with hot water if that's the case these have got a simmer for five hours so put the heat on the lowest it'll go cover and take a well-deserved nap five hours later take out the Songza let those cool down till room temperature and now you've got a veritable mountain of sticky rice dumplings reheat whenever you want to serve so you can keep this and the refrigerator for about a week when you want to reheat just give it a quick rinse under tap water and then put in a microwave for about a minute or you can also just steam them for about five minutes check out the red link in description box for detail recipe a big thank you for everyone that's supporting us on patreon and of course subscribe for more Chinese cooking videosso we got a request over on patreon for zongzi or sticky rice dumplings you can have these any time of the year but there's super traditional around Dragon Boat Festival which is coming up this week now there's a bunch of different types of songs uh sweet savory but we wanted to show you our personal favorite a savory sort stuffed with mung beans and marinated pork belly so songs are wrapped with bamboo leaves fresh ones are best but they're seasonal and if you live outside China I imagine that you could only get the dried ones totally fine - either way cut the ends of the leaves off and if using dry leave those to soak in cool water overnight our main stuffing is gonna be pork belly you want to slab a belly with a bit more fat because after cooking that fats gonna melt into the sticky rice in a super delicious way cut 400 grams pork belly into small slices then marinate with a 1/2 TSP salt 1 TSP sugar 1 TSP five-spice powder 1 TSP lgo aka Xiao Qing wine 2 teaspoons light soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of the juice from red fermented tofu do a bang-up job mixing those and let it sit in the fridge overnight of course we'll also need sticky rice this is 1 kilo short grain sticky rice that same sort that's often used in Japanese and Korean cooking we'll also be using a half kilo d shelled mung bean this stuff's actually Nicks mal eyes kind of like hominy in North America you should be able to find it in Chinese supermarkets for some umami we'll be adding in 20 grams dried shrimp 30 grams dried scallop and 60 grams dried shiitake mushroom rinse all these thoroughly especially the rice which you'll do to the water runs clear and let them all soak for at least 5 hours and up to 8 so first thing next morning drain the rice then strain it these bamboo strainers are cool but mesh is fine just let it drain for 1/2 an hour after that water is out season with two and a half tablespoons salt and a hundred grams peanut oil mix all that thoroughly for a minute or two set it aside next do the same with a mung beans out with the water and drain for a half an hour then in a bowl with four teaspoons salt mix it all well and set it aside now drain those dried shitake mushrooms cut off the stems and dice toss in a bowl then marinate with a quarter teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/4 TSP light soy sauce and a quarter teaspoon peanut oil mix well and set aside for 10 minutes next up our dried seafood an easy way to go at soaked dried scallops is to simply press down on them with a knife like this then mince those guys and set them aside now before wrapping take out your leaves and gently wipe them dry once you've worked through all those we can finally wrap some zones ooh this will take some practice so watch carefully first take two bamboo leaves leaving about a 1 inch overlap hold them like a book and fold up twisting slightly crease the inside and this gets us something that kind of looks like an ice cream cone that's where the filling will go now grab another leaf tuck it in between those two leaves and this is gonna kind of be like a leaf extension for us to wrap this guy a little easier now add in a tablespoon of the sticky rice and a 1/2 tablespoon of the mung beans pat down gently and nestle in 2 to 3 slices of the marinated pork belly sprinkle in a bit of the dried mushrooms ditto with the dried seafood then 1/2 a tablespoon of the mung bean again a tablespoon of the sticky rice again and now we're ready for the tricky bit we'll fold over this leaf but when you do place your thumb and middle finger at roughly the top of your filling pressing gently this guides the leaf to fold inward press down on the top so things are tight then fold increase this excess down both on the left and right sides press and crease the leaf on the top hotdog style then fold it back towards the bottom this guy's good to tie up now so while never letting go of the Songza grab a piece of dried grass or Baker's twine wrap it around tightly and tie it off work through the songs uh this recipe makes about 35 so splitting the job with friends or family is ideal now get about four liters of water to a boil and toss in your zones uh we slightly underestimated our water here so top it off with hot water if that's the case these have got a simmer for five hours so put the heat on the lowest it'll go cover and take a well-deserved nap five hours later take out the Songza let those cool down till room temperature and now you've got a veritable mountain of sticky rice dumplings reheat whenever you want to serve so you can keep this and the refrigerator for about a week when you want to reheat just give it a quick rinse under tap water and then put in a microwave for about a minute or you can also just steam them for about five minutes check out the red link in description box for detail recipe a big thank you for everyone that's supporting us on patreon and of course subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos\n"