{"id":20404,"date":"2023-04-13T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eatingintaipei.com\/?p=20404"},"modified":"2025-08-09T20:13:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T12:13:09","slug":"xiao-long-bao-taipei-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eatingintaipei.com\/xiao-long-bao-taipei-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Guide to 15 Amazing Xiao Long Bao Restaurants in Taipei"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Xiao Long Bao<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, also abbreviated as XLB<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, is a well-known Chinese food famed for its flavorful soup filling and delicate wrapper. Although XLB<\/a><\/span><\/strong> is well-known today, it started from humble beginnings. Huang Ming Xian is widely acknowledged as the creator of <\/span><\/strong><\/a>XLB<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/strong>, almost by accident, so the Xiao Long Bao<\/a><\/span><\/strong> origin story goes…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At his restaurant around the 1870s – Ri Hua Xuan – he was making dumplings<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, and found out that the accidental addition of aspic (pork jelly, for want of a better word) turns liquid when heated up, meaning that the soup fills the dumpling<\/span><\/a><\/strong> right away. The soup filling, which is one of the distinguishing characteristics of XLB<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong>, is created by simmering pork bones for hours before adding seasonings and ingredients to produce a rich and savory broth. Following the addition of the meat or vegetable filling, the broth is blended together. It’s then wrapped in a paper-thin layer of dough and steam-cooked to perfection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, it is only in more recent memory that Xiao Long Bao<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong> found critically acclaimed fame through the incredible Ding Tai Fung<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. More from Ding Tai Fung<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong> can be found in my other post right here<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, as that is a restaurant you seriously need to know more about! What Ding Tai Fung<\/a><\/span><\/strong> did for XLB<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong> is akin to what Tim Cook is doing right now for Apple<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. Neither Ding Tai Fung<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong> nor Tim Cook started what they are famous for, but they took it and ran with it and made it their own – groundbreaking!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is in Xiao Long Bao?<\/h2>\n
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The classic offerings will mostly have a pork mixture inside, but restaurants all over Taipei try to bring in new variations to keep the market interesting and progressive. <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What is the difference between Xiao Long Bao and dumplings?<\/h2>\n
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The primary difference is the fact that Xiao Long Bao has aspic inside, which melts into a soup that will explode in your mouth when you bite down on the paper-thin skin. However, another important difference is that dumplings are mostly boiled, whereas XLB is only ever steamed.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Table of Contents<\/h2>