▶ Taste of Shanghai
Shanghai cuisine, also known as Hu cuisine, is a popular style of Chinese food. In a narrow sense, Shanghai cuisine refers only to what is traditionally called Benbang cuisine which originated in Shanghai. In a broader sense, it refers to complex styles of cooking developed under the influence of neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.The dishes within the cuisine need to master the three elements of "color, aroma, and taste" (色香味). Like other cuisines within China, Shanghai cuisine emphasizes the use of seasonings, the quality of raw ingredients, and preserving the original flavors of ingredients. The adoption of Western influence in Shanghai cuisine resulted in a unique cooking style known as Haipai cuisine (海派菜).
Red braise or Hongshao in Chinese is a typical Chinese way to cook meat, and Shanghainese are good at cooking pork belly in the way of Hongshao. The brown color is dyed by the slow-cooking soy bean sauce mixed with melted sugar cubes. If visiting Zhujiajiao water town, outskirt of Shanghai, the red braised pork is a must-order dish.
The special feature of this delicious dish is stuffing 8 indispensable ingredients (including bamboo shoots, dried scallops, sticky rice, minced pork, Mandarin mushrooms, mixed nuts, chestnuts and duck gizzards) into the duck's belly, then Simmer until the flavors are absorbed. The finished product is soft, melts in the mouth, has an attractive golden color and is extremely nutritious.
Having a history of more than half a century, Pork Chop with rice cake is a local specialty, and the deep-fired pork chop is good with the rice cakes. It is a common dish for lunch. Both the ribs and rice cakes are deep fried. The pork ribs are red sweet-sticky coated in soy-based sauce and the rice cakes are also slippery and soft.
What the hairy crab to shanghai is like the Peking duck to Beijing. In autumn, it is a tradition for Shanghai people to have the buy hairy crabs with family. Steam and unwrap the crabs, crack the shell, and suck the meat out of the crustaceans. The simply steamed hairy crabs bring laughter for the whole family and they always come with vinegar, soy bean sauce, ginger, and scallions.
This unique cooking technique produces tender, juicy, and aromatic chicken, with the original taste of the chicken perfectly retained and trapped. The bones just fall off the chicken after hours of baking, and the meat is bursting with flavor and fragrance. We recommend a very popular joint on the Bund that serves a perfect Beggar's Chicken and is likely the best place for you to try your first one!
Drunken Chicken is a popular local dish in Shanghai. The steamed chicken is chopped to small pieces and preserved overnight with strong Chinese baijiu or other liquors. The next day, the cold chicken is done, and it’s always served with chilly sauce, vinegar, and other sauces. A special cooking method that cooled the boiled chicken in cold water helped retain its flavor and luster, and also crispened its skin.
Are you a meat eater? You will like the “Lion head”. It is a giant meatball surely smaller than the lion’s head but much like the size of a fist. It is very delicious, creamy, bathed in savory broth with some vegetables. It is very porky and delicately presented with irresistible nice smell. It is one of the representative dishes in Shanghai.
Shanghai Snacks include nanxiang steamed buns 南翔小笼包; large soup buns 灌汤包; vegetarian stuffed buns 素菜包; Niangao or New Year cake; eyebrow-shaped shortcake 眉毛酥; crab shell cake 蟹壳黄. Shanghai snacks are dainty and exquisite in shape with unique features.
Osmanthus cake (Chinese: 桂花糕) is a traditional sweet-scented Chinese pastry made with glutinous rice flour, honey, sweet-scented osmanthus and rock sugar. It has crystal clear, sweet, and soft waxy characteristics.
Chongming Gao, or Chongming Cake, is a traditional Shanghai pastry in Chongming district. This sweet and tender treat is made with glutinous and non-glutinous rice that's mashed and steamed with sugar, red beans, dates, candied fruits, pine nuts, melon seeds and assorted dried fruits.
Tangyuan are a traditional Chinese dessert made of glutinous rice shaped into balls that are served in a hot broth or syrup. They come in varying sizes, anything between a marble to a ping-pong ball, and are sometimes stuffed with filling.
Traditional pastries, including green rice balls (qingtuan), sticky rice cake bars (tiaotougao), and longevity peach buns (shoutao), hold not only culinary appeal but also rich cultural significance. Tiaotougao is the most iconic — a long, slender rice cake bar with slightly firm edges and a pleasantly chewy texture.
Recommended Food Streets:
-Yu Garden Food Street (豫园美食街): Snacks such as Nanxiang mantou, Ningbo dumplings, and eight-treasure rice pudding are available; you can take No. 11, 66, 71 buses to reach here.-Yellow River Food Street (黄河路美食街): When night falls, seafood restaurants are drawing you with its alluring smelling and prismatic neon lights; you can take No. 15, 19, 20, 21, 27, 37, 315 buses to reach here.
-Zhapu Road Food Street (乍浦路美食街): it stretches about one kilometers long and boasts Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, and Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai cuisines; you can take No. 13、17, 65, 100, 305, 308buses to reach here.
-Town's God Temple (老城隍庙): It has a long history of snacks, dating back to Ming Dynasty. It attracts people because of its quaint architecture as well as delicious food. It has been said that forty batches of head of states so far.
- Hongji Square (弘基广场): Here, visitors can try some traditional western food, especially fast food. Some popular tea houses, noodle shops, coffee houses are here and there.
-Wujiang Road(吴江路): It is a good place for medium-income common people. Only do you spend a little money can you satisfy your palates.
-Yunnan Road (中餐老街云南路): It is an old food street in Shanghai, pulling in eaters home and abroad, so hardly can you find some western or modern restaurants or hotels. Shanghai cuisine and Sichuan cuisine enjoy a great popularity here; you can take No. 17, 18, 23, 42, 71, 775, 782, 783buses to reach here.