Mushroom-and-Chicken Dumplings

Mushroom-and-chicken dumplings are the signature of the century-old Liu Hongsheng house, served in a clear broth slowly drawn from a local hen so the soup is savoury and fragrant, the dumplings thin-skinned and tender with the lift of dried mushroom—warm and comforting in every bowl.

The dish dates to the late Qing dynasty, when the pedlar Song San and his wife sold dumplings and noodles from a shoulder pole; their broth, drawn from local chicken, was so savoury that it became a Luzhou favourite, and Liu Hongsheng built its name on this single bowl, passing it down for nearly a hundred and fifty years.

Cooked to order and eaten hot, diners first sip the clear chicken broth then bite into the thin-skinned dumplings, most often as a breakfast or afternoon treat; it pairs well with chicken-oil steamed dumplings and osmanthus red-bean paste.

The clear broth drawn slowly from a local hen, the quiet fragrance of dried mushroom and the thin-tender dumplings set this apart from ordinary soup dumplings.