Chinese food lovers around the globe are fuming over a video by Time Out London that is "manhandling" traditional soup dumplings.

The video, originally posted on Time Out London's Facebook page on March 28, shows a diner attempting to burst a xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and throw away the soup, often considered the essence of the little parcels of culinary joy.

"Love popping spots and eating dumplings? Combine the two with exploding soup dumplings," the video said in a post on how to eat dumplings served at a restaurant in London.

"They're super dribbly and also very satisfying to watch," the video continued as a diner breaks the dumpling with chopsticks.

The post has received more than one million views, and more than 4,400 comments, most of them critical.

Time Out London has been widely panned ever since its video went online.

"The entire video was one big blasphemy. I'm screaming internally and not in an excited way," Kenneth Ting said. "That is not how you eat Xiao Long Bao. It's a complete waste of something so good."

"This video is giving me anxiety because you are definitely not supposed to squeeze the soup out of them or 'explode' them as you crudely put it," Christina Chan said in a Facebook comment that drew more than 1,000 likes.

"My traditional food is not here just for your next cool trend," Chan added.

Joshua Lee of Singapore said: "Asians all over were understandably aghast at this display of barbarism."

"You don't think comparing another culture's food to popping pimples is embarrassing?" wrote user Sonia Leung.

In response, Time Out London issued a short apology for its video, followed by a call for readers to help it with its cultural understandings.

"We've been politely informed that bursting these lovely little parcels of culinary joy before they reach your lips really isn't the done thing at all. So, first off, apologies to anybody who was peeved by our post. Secondly, we'd like to invite the knowledgeable food-lovers of China and Asia to tell us what traditional delicacies we Londoners should try — and how to eat them properly," the editors wrote in an article titled Give us a culinary hand, will you?

Time Out Shanghai on March 31 posted another video on Facebook titled Xiao Long Bao 101, in which the widely accepted way to eat the dish is explained. The video was reposted by Time Out London, with the caption "A public service announcement from our friends at Time Out Shanghai."

The xiao long bao, or dumplings with meat filling as well as soup, is a widely popular dish for foodies in China.

How popular? Enough that the Taiwan restaurant Din Tai Fung which specializes in making xiao long bao mastered the art so much that it earned itself a Michelin star.

Each dumpling is filled with minced pork and broth, and often served with thinly sliced ginger strips and a small plate of black vinegar for dipping.

To many foodies, the steaming hot broth inside, usually made from gelatinized soup blocks which melt as the dumplings are steamed, is the most prized part of each little bundle of joy.

Many have pointed out that the traditional way to eat a xiao long bao is to first bite a bit of the peel, drink the soup first, and then enjoy the rest of the dumpling.