Steamed Shanghai Soup Dumplings (Xiaolongbao)

For the aspic (our chefs do this one a night before!)

Ingredients

• ½ lb pork skin, cut into 1-inch strips
• 1 lb pork neck bones (you want neck bones that still have meat on them!)
• water
• 2 slices ginger
• 1 scallion, cut into 3 pieces
• 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine

Methods

1. In a small pot, add the pork skin and pork bones and cover with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil, and immediately drain and rinse off the bones and the skin. This gets rid of any impurities. Rinse out the pot and put everything back in. Add 4 cups of water, ginger, scallion and wine. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
2. After 2 hours, turn off the heat, allow the soup to cool, and strain the liquid into a bowl. As to the leftovers in the pot, you can discard it or go the Chinese route, which would be to drizzle some light soy sauce over everything and start grazing). Once the liquid is completely cooled, cover and refrigerate overnight.