Soup Dumpling Broth Is Set Stock

The soup inside a soup dumpling is not poured in - it is folded in as solid jelly. Simmer collagen-rich pork skin (and a split trotter) long and slow until the stock turns sticky enough to cling to your lips, then strain, reduce to concentrate it, and back it up with a little bloomed powdered gelatin so it sets firm every time. Chill until sliceable, dice small, and fold it into the seasoned meat at close to a one-to-one ratio by weight. As the dumplings cook in the steamer, the aspic melts back into hot broth trapped inside the wrapper. If a soup dumpling eats juicy but not soupy, the cause is almost always too little aspic or stock that never set firmly enough - so be generous, and set it hard.