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Vegan Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao)
- Yield: 20-22 dumplings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
Broth
- 2 cups of water
- 1 tbsp tamari
- 1 tbsp veggie bouillon/paste
- 1 ½ tsp agar agar
Wrapper
- 200 g flour (double zero flour recommended but you can use all purpose flour)
- 2 tsp neutral oil
- ½–¾ cup hot water
Filling
- 4 ounces store bought pre pressed extra firm tofu (½ cup when packed)
- ¼ cup dried shiitake mushrooms (6-7 ct) hydrated in cold water then finely chopped
- 3 green onions finely chopped (whites & light green parts)
- ¼ cup each of cabbage & carrots shredded & finely chopped
- ½ tbl sesame oil
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp ginger powder
Instructions
- On stovetop bring broth ingredients to a boil for about a minute while stirring. Pour in a shallow pan. Put in fridge at least one half hour till agar sets & is firm.
- In a food processor add flour, process on high, slowly add hot water & oil. It will soon form a smooth ball. Then knead with hands a couple of minutes. Wrap with kitchen towel & rest 1 hr
- For the filling: mash tofu in a bowl till crumbly. Add the rest of the filling ingredients.
- Once agar has set, use a knife to finely dice into tiny cubes. Add half of the agar to the filling.
- Cut dough into three equal pieces. Take one piece, wrap remaining pieces. On a well floured surface, roll into a log about ¾ in thick, cut into 1 ½ in pieces. Roll each piece into a 4 in disk leaving the center thicker than the edges. Make sure edges are thin for easy pleating.
- To assemble, add 1 tbl of filling to the center of the dumpling wrapper. Top with 1 tsp of remaining agar. Pleat to seal. Repeat. Or an easier option: just fold the top, bottom, left, & right edges & them join in the middle & firmly seal open seams with fingers.
- In a steamer lined with parchment paper steam dumplings 8-10 min till broth returns to a liquid. Enjoy!
Notes
Find more of Sara’s recipes on @thevegansara.
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I’ve used agar-agar and it works really well!
★★★★★
I’ve been searching for real soup dumplings for years. I really liked this recipe. I wish the gel would have set a bit more, maybe a Tbl of agar agar instead of 1.5 tsp. I’ll get better at the dough next time, I had a bit of a learning curve. It attached the itch!
★★★★★
Tried this recipe last night. I meant to half it and accidentally made the full account. It’s a good thing I did because my partner and I ate all of them. Other than trying to get the dumplings to be a nice shape, it was really easy to make. Would make again!
★★★★★
im trying this out on my cheat day
★★★★★
im trying this out on my cheat day i hope its really good
★★★★★
can’t find agar agar, would it be alright using gelatin powder instead?
Hi Oli! That would make the recipe not vegan, so we can’t recommend it.
Thanks for the recipe.
How do I know when “broth returns to a liquid”?
Isn’t the broth inside the dumplings?
Hi Alik! If you read the recipe steps carefully, you’ll see that the broth ingredients are boiled together, then cooled in the fridge until firm (the agar agar acting as a binding/setting agent allowing it to go from liquid to firm state), then diced into fine cubes and added to the tofu filling. So yes, the broth is inside the dumplings, first in its firm form while they’re being assembled, and then melting back into liquid when the dumplings are steamed. Hope this helps!
Can you replace agar agar with cornstarch or other agar agar alternative that is vegan ?
Hello,
You could try substituting with cornstarch, as it has a similar quality of thickening when cooled, but we can’t guarantee the results will be 100% the same.
Good luck! 🙂
Do the chopped cabbage and carrots need to be cooked, are are we adding them raw?
Hi Ada,
The veggies are meant to be shredded and finely chopped first, then mixed with crumbled tofu and seasonings, then steamed within the dumplings. There’s no need to precook the filling! Hope this helps 🙂
Amazing! Multi stepped but easy to follow recipe and turned out so tasty. Made them with my 12 year old son and they were a hit. Highly recommend trying this recipe!
★★★★★
They look really good.
But how healthy are they.
And it would help if you put the ingredients on one page so we don’t have to read the whole thing when buying them.
★★★★★
Can you freeze these ?
Hello! Yes, you can freeze them! If you do, don’t steam them first – skip the last step. You’ll steam them when you’re ready to eat them 🙂 Hope this helps!
Hi! I don’t have a steamer but I’ve done steamed dumplings before, I fry them first on a frying pan until slightly brown, then I add water and cover the pan with a lid to form the steam. Do you think I can use this method too in this recipe or I really need to use a steamer?
★★★★★