Today we bought 100 frozen xiao long bao and brought them home. We just steamed 10 of them in our new bamboo steamer. Heaven…

The next question is: what kind of vinegar do they use? A quick search revealed this:

[1] “You are going to look for the Gold Plum brand chinkiang vinegar from Nanjing. Tall glass bottle (the glass is clear, so look for a black bottle) with a yellow label and the Gold Plum brand name on the neck.

[2] I recently needed some Chinkiang vinegar, and not finding my favorite brands, I went for what I thought was Gold Plum Brand, which is always dependable. Seeing the price at 99 cents, I thought it was a bargain. I grabbed it in a rush, and it wasn’t until I got home when I found it was not Gold Plum Brand, but another with a similar yellow bottle. It’s the one on the right in the photo, Gold Plum is on the left. The brand on the right is not very good. When I returned to 99 Ranch Market, I noticed that the two brands are stocked right next to each other.