🍽️ Jingjiang Crab Bun

Crab-roe soup bun, sip then eat.

Jingjiang Crab Roe Soup Bun is a famed pastry from Jingjiang, in Taizhou, Jiangsu, prized for its thin skin and soup-filled center. Leavened dough wraps a filling of crab roe, crab meat and pork skin jelly; steamed, the jelly melts into a full pouch of liquid. The proper way to eat it is to 'open a window first, then sip the soup': bite a small hole in the skin, drink the piping-hot broth, then eat the skin and filling dipped in ginger vinegar, lest a full bite make the juice burst everywhere. The skin is paper-thin yet resilient, the crab aroma rich and the broth savory, best in autumn and winter when crabs are in season. It is a highlight of Jingjiang morning tea and banquets, and a refined pastry that outsiders travel specifically to taste.