Classification of Shanghai Cuisine
Shanghai cuisine is the youngest among the ten major cuisines in China though with a history of more than 400 years. Shanghai Cuisine includes two styles - Benbang Cuisine (literally meaning 'local cuisine) and Haipai Cuisine (literally meaning 'all-embracing cuisine'). Benbang Cuisine is the traditional family style cuisine that appeared in Shanghai over 100 years ago. Using fresh fish, chicken, pork and various vegetables as the main ingredients, Benbang Cuisine always has a great flavor and a bright color derived from the oil and soybean sauce, tasting fresh, mellow and sweet.
Deriving from the cosmopolitan culture formed in Shanghai in the end of the Qing Dynasty, Haipai Cuisine absorbs the advantages of many cuisines from other regions of China and even western cuisines, and then adapts them to suit local tastes. With Fresh fish, shrimps and crabs as the main ingredients, the appearance, flavors and cooking techniques of the Haipai dishes have many variations. In recent years, Cantonese Cuisine has greatly influenced Shanghai Cuisine, which consequently makes the dishes less oily and more delicate with the use of more high quality and expensive ingredients.
To meet the appetites of people at different levels, Shanghai style offers a wide range of homey selections as well as gourmet-show pieces. Some famous local dishes are:
1. Steamed crab
Late autumn is the best time for eating crabs in Shanghai. During that time, the best-quality Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs with green shells and white bottoms, rich in fat and ovary, are shipped to restaurants. When the crabs are properly cooked, the fragrance appeals to diners' palate.
2. Ba Bao La Jiang
It is typical among the few spicy dishes. It is a Benbang dish featuring great flavor and bright color. Bean sauce and chili sauce are blended and stir-fried with shelled shrimps, chicken, chicken stock, pork, pig offal, dried small shrimps, bamboo shoots and various kinds of seasoning.
3. Yan Du Xian
It is a delicious stew. Pork and ham are first steamed and then stewed in a soup with fresh bamboo shoots.
4. Xia Zi Da Wu Shen
It’s noted as the most famous seafood dish in local cuisine. Dried sea cucumber is immersed in water to restore its original size and then stewed with oil, yellow wine, soybean sauce, broth, sugar, shallot, starch sauce and shrimp roe. This dish is nutritious with rich protein and minerals and is said to effectively control cancer.
Local Snacks
Local snacks should not be missed. You should try the famous Nanxiang steamed stuffed buns, crab-yellow pastry, fried stuffed buns, chop rice cake, and vegetable stuffed buns, Leisha dumplings and wontons. Various snack streets in the city have many restaurants and eateries to tempt you. Wujiang Road, Old Town God Temple Snack Street, South Yunnan Road and Xianxia Road are the best among them.
As an all-embracing city, Shanghai offers various delicacies from other regions of China and many foreign countries and areas. No matter how fastidious you are about dining, you can enjoy your time to the full!
