The earliest steamed buns originated in the Northern Song Dynasty, which was a delicacy in Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and was passed down, developed and evolved in Jiangnan in the Southern Song Dynasty. Steamed buns are famous Jiangnan traditional snacks in Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing and other areas south of the Yangtze River.
During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, modern forms of steamed buns appeared in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and formed their own characteristics in various places, such as Changzhou delicious, Wuxi sweet and Suzhou delicious, but they all had the same characteristics as thin skin, delicious flavor and so on, and were also spread in Kaifeng, Tianjin and other places. Shanghai Nanxiang Xiaolong, which was born in Tongzhi for ten years in the late Qing Dynasty, also has a long history and enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad.
Famous steamed buns in various places:
1, Jiangsu Changzhou Steamed Buns
Steamed buns have the characteristics of "thin and transparent skin, rich marinade, fragrant crab, fat but not greasy, rich juice, and fresh and tender meat stuffing". With a dish dipped in balsamic vinegar, soak the hot steamed buns that have just come out of the cage in the balsamic vinegar dish, hold them up with chopsticks, bite off the bottom side of the steamed buns, carefully suck the delicious brine first, and then soak the opened buns in vinegar to let the vinegar enter the buns. The taste is wonderful, which is a must in Changzhou.
2. Wuxi steamed buns
There are two kinds of steamed buns in Wuxi: fresh meat steamed buns and crab powder steamed buns. The meat stuffing in fresh meat steamed buns is thin, salty, tender and delicious. Adding boiled crab powder and crab yellow oil to the heart of fresh meat stuffing is the famous "Wuxi crab powder small cage bag", which tastes delicious and leaves fragrance on the teeth and cheeks.
3. Shanghai Nanxiang Steamed Buns
Nanxiang steamed buns were originally named "Nanxiang Big Meat Steamed Bun" and are now called "Nanxiang Steamed Bun". The stuffing of steamed buns can also change with the seasons, such as adding shrimp in early summer and crab meat, crab roe and crab oil in autumn. If you eat it with shredded ginger and balsamic vinegar, with a bowl of shredded egg soup, poke the dough, dip it in balsamic vinegar, take a bite of Nanxiang steamed buns with shredded ginger, and then savor it.