Soup-Filled Steamed Buns 灌汤包
Soup-Filled Steamed Buns is featured among the local specialties of Henan.
Photo adjustments
Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Soup-Filled Steamed Buns (灌汤包) in Kaifeng (开封) combine a thin wheat wrapper with meat and broth. At the city’s Diyilou restaurant (第一楼), a documented version uses lean pork from the hind leg and refined flour, steamed over fierce heat. The buns spread like chrysanthemums when set down and hang like little lanterns when lifted.
Thin dough and twenty-three pleats
Diyilou’s chef Ji Hongmei (姬红梅) explains that the wrappers use unleavened dough. Repeated kneading, throwing and pulling, with additions of water and flour, brings the dough to the required consistency. The filling contains minced ginger without scallion and is beaten until it draws into long, unbroken strands. Each bun receives twenty-three evenly arranged pleats, with a tight, round closure.
Broth inside the wrapper
China Radio International describes thin skins, generous fillings and a soft, savoury finish. The filling and soup share the same wrapper, giving the bun its characteristic flowing juices.
Open, sip, then eat
The local eating rhyme gives the sequence: open a small “window”, drink the soup, then eat the rest. This makes the broth a distinct first taste before the pork and wrapper are eaten together.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-26. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.