Soup Dumplings (Guantangbao)

Steamed xiaolong soup buns are Kaifeng's most famous pastry: a thin leavened wrapper encloses minced pork blended with aspic, and once steamed the bun fills with hot broth, lifting like a lantern and settling like a chrysanthemum.

They are said to descend from the celebrated 'plum-blossom buns' of Northern Song Dongjing, giving Kaifeng a soup-dumpling tradition reaching back nearly a thousand years and carrying Song-era food culture into the present.

The ritual is 'open a window, sip the soup, then savor': bite a small opening to draw out the broth, then eat the bun dipped in aromatic vinegar with shredded ginger, always while piping hot.

The defining maker is Diyilou, whose xiaolong soup buns are the gold standard for Kaifeng's soup dumplings.