Tangbao
/ˈtɑːŋ.baʊ/noun
A Chinese steamed bun filled with hot soup and usually meat or seafood.
Did you know?Tangbao is closely associated with Jiangnan cuisine, especially Jingjiang and Shanghai, where eating the broth-filled bun requires carefully sipping the soup before consuming the wrapper.
Etymological Timeline
Old Chinese
Old Chinese
湯 (*sˤaŋ)
“Hot liquid, soup, or broth”
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
湯 (thang)
“Soup, broth, or hot water”
Late Imperial Chinese
Chinese
包 (pāo/bāo)
“To wrap, enclose, or bundle”
19th–20th Century
Mandarin
湯包 (tāngbāo)
“A wrapped bun containing soup or broth”
20th–21st Century
English
tangbao
“A Chinese soup-filled steamed bun used as a culinary loanword”
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