Baozi

Baozi is a round, steamed yeasted bun with a savoury filling sealed inside before steaming. It's a thick, bready dumpling, and it's genuinely different from jiaozi and xiaolongbao, its two thin-skinned relatives that often sit on the same dim sum menu — baozi's dough is leavened and substantial, not a thin wrapper at all.

What it actually is

A yeasted dough made from wheat flour rises until soft and pillowy, then wraps around a filling — often minced pork with spring onion and ginger, though vegetable and sweet fillings are common too. The filled dough pleats closed at the top into a distinctive twisted knot, then steams until the bun puffs up light, thick and fully cooked through, the dough itself becoming the main texture of the bite.

The dough is thick and leavened, unlike jiaozi's thin unleavened wrapper or xiaolongbao's even thinner, soup-holding skin. A baozi that's collapsed or dense has failed at the one thing that defines it — a properly steamed bun should be light, airy and noticeably thicker than either of its dumpling cousins.

How it's served

• Hot, straight from the steamer, held and eaten by hand.
• As a breakfast or snack food, sold from steamer baskets at street stalls and bakeries.
• Plain, without dipping sauce, unlike jiaozi which is typically dipped.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten from the wheat-flour dough.
• Say which filling is used, since pork, vegetable and sweet red-bean versions are all common under the same name.
• Note that it's genuinely different from jiaozi and xiaolongbao, since guests may not realise all three are distinct formats.
• Mention if a vegetarian filling is available, since the classic pork filling isn't.