Top10 Featured Food in Shanghai

Shanghai boasts one of China's best and most distinctive cuisines. Influenced by its location just south of the Yangtze River and at the estuary of the Huangpu River, the region abounds in a selection of freshwater fish and shellfish. Dishes from this area are lightly and delicately seasoned. Shanghai people have a 'sweet tooth', and more sugar is used in Shanghai than in any other part of China.

1 Beggars Chicken

Ingredients: Fresh and tender chicken

Features: The chicken is white, fragrant and tender. It has a soft taste and will not be stuck between your teeth.

Legend: According to the legend, in ancient times there was a beggar who wandered destitute to the Yangtze RiverDelta. One day, he fell to the ground because of hunger and cold. A fellow sufferer stole a small hen for him, but realized that they did not have a stove to cook it in. At this point, they saw a bonfire close to them and came up a good idea. They wrapped the chicken with mud and put it into the bonfire to be baked. After a while, they opened the mud pie and unexpectedly found that the chickens feathers had fallen off and that the chicken tasted extremely well. Later this cooking technique spread into restaurants, and the dish finally became a famous part of the Hangzhoucuisine.

2 Cold Noodle with Sauce

 

For the summer in Shanghai, cold noodle is usually one of the most popular dishes. The making procedure is: boil the noodle after steaming, then make it cool, at last add some sauces.

3 Da Zha Xie

 

 

Da Zha Xie is a special type of crab found in rivers, and is normally consumed in the winter. The crabs are tied with ropes or strings, placed in bamboo containers, steamed and served. There few other artificial ingredients added to the dish yet it tastes fantastically good. Da Zha Xie is usually consumed with vinegar. Locals are also quite fussy about when to consume male crabs and when to consume female crabs.

4 Fresh Meat Flour Dough

 

 

This flour dough is made of diced chicken and meat, mixing with the delicious soup. Because of the ear-like figure, it got the name "Mao'er" meaning the ears of cat.

5 Fried Mantou

 

 

In Shanghai, people usually call Baozi (steamed bun with filling)Mantou, so fried Mantou, in fact, is fried Baozi. The semi-fermented paste is fried on the saucepan and water will be sprayed onto it several times during cooking. You'd better taste it in hot because at that time, the bottom is golden-colored and crispy, while the rest part is white and soft. The wonderful stuffing mixing fresh meat with sesame or scallion is especially wonderful.

6 Mashed Date Flaky Pastry

It is a kind of fried food cooked with pastry cover and black mashed dates inside. It is very popular among the tourists from Hong Kong, Macao and Japan for its golden color, cute figure, crispy pastry and delicious stuffing.

7 Shanghai pepper duck

(half or whole) fresh duck steamed with szechwan peppers, ginger and scallions until tender, lightly fried and served with plum sauce and steamed bread 10.00/19.00

8 Sponge Cake Made by Lard and Fruits

 

 

It is steamed by the mixed powder of glutinous-rice and rice with adzuki bean and fruits. The cake is very soft and sweet, and has various tastes with different fruits. This is a popular dish in the Chinese New Year Eve.

9 Xiao Long Bao (Little Dragon Bun),

 

 

Unlike the buns in northern China, these buns are very small and easy to swallow. The buns are usually steamed in containers made of bamboo. The skin of the buns are very thin and the bun is very juicy. The dish has been popularized and consumed widely throughout China as a Dim Sum

10 Yangchun Noodle (Plain Noodle),

 

YangChun noodle is tasty, served with the fresh and delicious dried shrimps with scented scallion oil.