Shanghai snacks are not only exquisite in look but delicious in taste too! Here are a list of Famous and Popular Shanghainese Snacks and where to find them!

Nanxiang Steamed Stuffed Bun / Xiaolong Bao

南翔小笼包 (nán xiáng xiǎo lóng bāo)

Nanxiang Xiaolong Bao (steamed stuffed bun)

Xiaolong Bao (also known as soup dumpling or steam stuffed bun) is one of the famous snack Shanghai is known for. The Shanghai-styled Xiaolong Bao supposedly originated in Nanxiang Town in a northern suburb of Shanghai. Hence the Nanxiang Steamed Stuffed Bun is often known as the authentic Shanghainese Steamed Stuffed Bun.

The Steamed Stuffed Bun is well-known for its thin wrap and generous meat filling. Its meat is tender and well-flavoured. The Shanghainese Steam Stuffed Bun is small and exquisite. What makes it such a unique dish is – as you bite into the small bun, hot and delicious soup flows out!

The soup liquid in the bun is not pre-prepared. The soup is actually created by the meat jelly in the bun. As the bun is steamed, the meat jelly melts to form the thick and savoury soup.

Right way of eating Xiaolong Bao

1. Carefully bite a small opening at the side of the dumpling.
2. Savour the thick delicious soup inside first. You may sip from the dumpling opening or pour the soup onto your spoon. Be careful as the soup may be piping hot.
3. Lastly, dip the dumpling with some vinegar. Depending on preference, you can also add some sliced ginger stripes. You may then finish off the delightful dish.

The pork meat filling is usually mixed with different ingredients during different seasons: bamboo shoot in Spring, shrimp in Summer and crab meat in the Autumn.

Variation of the Soup Dumpling

Xiaolong bao has since developed some variations. Different province may serve them in their own styles. One of the variation is a slightly bigger dumpling with a straw stuck from the top.

Steam Stuffed bun with straw to drink the soup

This dish has over a century of history. The decendents of its creator now still manages two restaurants located in downtown Shanghai, serving up hot and fresh Steam Stuffed Buns (Xiaolong Bao) everyday to long queues of patrons and food lovers.

The two restaurants are:

Nanxiang Mantou Restaurant:

(At the famous Shanghai Attraction – City God Temple 城隍庙 chéng huáng miào)

Add: 85 Yuyuan Laolu, Shanghai
Tel: 021-63554206
Opening hrs: 7:30-21:00

Gu Yi Yuan Nanxiang Xiaolong

Add: 238 Guyiyuan Lu, Nanxiang Town, Jiading District, Shanghai
Tel: 021-59121335, 59126013
Opening hrs: 7:30-21:00

Crab-Yellow Pastry

蟹壳黄 (xiè ké huáng)

The Crab-Yellow Pastry is named as such by its resemblance to the shell of a cooked crab. This Shanghainese pastry can be either sweet or salty depending on its filling. The savoury ones are stuffed with shallot oil, pork, shrimp or crab. The sweet ones contains sugar, roses, sweetened bean paste or Chinese date paste.

This snack uses oil-mixed dough and after stuffing with filling, wrapped with sesame and oven baked. The Crab-Yellow Pastry’s fragrant and cripsy texture makes this another Shanghai snack you have to try!

Recommended Restaurant to try the snack:

Wuyuan Bakery

Add: 255 Yanping Lu, Jing’an District, Shanghai
Tel: 021-62565556

Fried Stuffed Bun

生煎馒头 (shēng jiān mán tou)

Shenjian Mantou or Fried Stuffed Bun is a popular Shanghai snack. The bun is soft and munchy while the bottom, being pan-fried, is crispy and fragrant. The wraps are made of semi-fermented paste and filled with pork, shallot and ginger. Soy, pepper and sesame further enhances its taste. Served hot, the fried stuffed bun makes for a great scrumptious snack!

Recommended Restaurants to try the snack:

Xiaoyang Shengjian Restaurant (Yang’s Fry Dumpling):

Add: No. 54 and No. 60, Wujiang Road, Jing’an District

Fengyu Shengjian Eatery:

Add: No. 48, Guangling 2nd Road, Hongkou District

Youlian Shengjian Restaurant:

Add: No. 45, Xinzha Road, Putuo District

Feilong Shengjian Restaurant:

Add:   1F, Dongtai Plaza, No. 2002, North Sichuan Road, Hongkou District

Dahuchun Eatery:

Add:     No. 4-6, Lane136, Pudong Avenue, Pudong New Area

Pork Chop with Rice Cake

排骨年糕 (pái gǔ nián gāo)

Paigu Niangao (Pork Chop with Rice Cake) is a distinct dish of Shanghai. The pork chop is first marinated and boiled with sauce, oil, sugar, ginger and wine, while rice is beaten into paste and cut into small pieces of cake. The pork chop is then wrapped with the rice cake and fried briefly.

This creates a uniquely delicious dish, where the aroma of the meat blends perfectly with the crisp texture of the rice cake.

Recommended Restaurants to try the snack:

Two restaurants in Shanghai are specifically popular for their Pork Chop Rice Cakes, since 1930s. Each have their own style of preparation and taste.

Shuguang Restaurant:

Add:  at the intersection of Middle Sichuan Road and Fuzhou Road, Huangpu District

Xian De Lai:

Add:  No. 69, South Yunnan Road, Huangpu District

LeiSha Dumpling

擂沙圆 (léi shā yuán)

Leisha dumplings are glutinous-rice balls which can have either meat or red bean or sesame paste as filling. The rice ball is then coated with powder to add to its flavour as well as prevent it from sticking to each other. The powder coating can be of sesame or red bean.

The riceball is chewy and finely coated with the fragrant powder.  Matched with the sweet flowing filling inside, this Shanghai snack is irresistible to people of all ages and appeals especially to those with a sweet tooth.

Recommended store to try the snack:

Qiaojiashan Snack Store:

Add:   No. 313, South Xiangyang Road, Xuhui District

You Dun Zi

油墩子(yóu dūn zi)

YouDunZi (oil-grilled pastry) is another yummy local snack of Shanghai. It is also known as “oil-grilled turnip cake” as it is stuffed with shredded turnip.

You can easily find YouDunZi being sold along Shanghai streets. The pastry is crispy, delicious and exceptionally satisfying, especially when you are getting a little hungry during your sightseeing!

Vegetable Stuffed Bun

素菜包子 (sù cāi bāo zi)

Vegetable Stuffed Bun, as its name suggests, has no meat in its filling. However, the taste is just as good as any meat bun, if not better and more unique. The bun is a soft white bread, while the vegetarian filling includes finely chopped green vegetables, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and marinated brean curd.

Vegetable Stuffed Bun have a history of over 70 years and can be found in many restaurants in Shanghai. It tastes fresh, light and delicious, so give it a try and you might just grow to love your greens.

Recommended restaurant to try this snack:

Chunfeng Songyue Vegetarian Restaurant:

Add: No.99, Jiu Jiaochang Road, Huangpu District (near Bailing Road)

Won Ton

馄饨 (hún dùn)

Won Ton is a popular dumpling in China. In Shanghai, there are commonly two distinctions of Won Ton- Big Won Ton (dà hún dùn) and Small Won Ton (xiǎo hún dùn).

The Big Won Ton are stuffed with pork meat and shepherd’s purse (a herb like plant). The Small Won Ton are stuffed with meat alone. The Won Ton wrap is very thin; half a kilo of flour wrap can produce 50 Big Won Tons or 70 Small Won Tons.

Won Ton provides a very satisfying meal or snack. It is usually served in soup – thicker broth for Big Won Ton and lighter flavoured chicken soup for the Small Won Ton.

Recommended Restaurant:

Jin Shifu Won Ton Restaurant:

Add: No. 78, Sinan Road, Luwan District

Cold Noodle With Sauce

开洋葱油拌面  (kāi yang cōng yóu bàn miàn)

Cold noodle is a popular dish in Shanghai, especially during hot summers. Although a simple dish, the Cold Noodles with Sauce, offers the Shanghainese simple delights of a cool and refreshing light meal.

Recommended Restaurant:

Wuyue Renjia

Add: No. 200, Wujiang Road, Jing’an District

The Small Shaoxing Chicken Porridge

小绍兴鸡粥 (xiǎo shào xīng jī zhōu)

The Small Shaoxing Chicken Porridge originated from a restaurant opened in 1947 in Shanghai. The founder and its chefs of the restaurant were from Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. Serving their local chicken porridge dish and being a place the Shaoxing community would gather, it soon became known as “Xiaoshaoxing Chicken Rice Congee Restaurant”.

The Small Shaoxing Chicken Porridge is cooked with chicken soup. Served with chopped chicken meat, and with condiments like shallot, ginger powder and chicken oil, this savoury and sweet dish is not only delicious, it is also highly nutritious.

Recommended restaurant to try this dish:

Xiao Shaoxing Restaurant

Add: No. 69-75, Yunnan South Road, Huangpu district, Shanghai

Tel: 21-63260845 63203562

GaoQiao Muffin / Pastry

高桥松饼(gāo qiáo sōng bǐng)

Gaoqiao Pastry is a soft pastry with fruity fillings. The pastry’s sweet taste comes from its various fillings of different fruits and adzuki beans. It is a popular snack in Shanghai and especially so during Chinese New Year as one of the festive goodies.

Recommended place to try this snack:

Gao Qiao Shi Pin Chang (Gao Qiao Food Company)

Add: No. 25 Rui Jin Road (Junction of Huai Hai Zhong Road)

Learn Mandarin Words:

Learn Mandarin Phrases:

• nǎ  lǐ  yǒu hǎo chī de xiǎo chī
  哪  里  有  好  吃  的  小  吃？
  Where (can I find) delicious snacks?

• jiù zài zhè cān guǎn !
  就  在  这  餐  馆！
  Right in this restaurant!

The characteristics of Suzhou cuisine lie in its delicate preparations, emphasis on ingredients quality and its uniqueness in their dishes look and taste. Suzhou food delicacies tend towards the sweet side while retaining the ingredients’ natural flavour.

Suzhou Banquet Dishes

The formal Suzhou style banquet is renowned throughout China. It is made up of many Suzhou signature dishes.

The most famous of them is Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish.

Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish (Song Shu Gui Yu)

Suzhou Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish

The Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish is characterized by its lack of bones and soft meat. The name is derived from the dish’s resemblance to a squirrel. The meat of the fish is made to protrude outwards like the fur of a squirrel. The placement of the fish and the red sauce poured over it also adds to its resemblance.

The fish is deep fried to give it a beautiful fragrance, while the meat inside is soft and fresh. The sweet and sour sauce further enhances its flavour, making this a mouth-watering and appetizing dish!

Whitebait Soup

Whitebait Soup is another typical dish in the Suzhou banquet.

Whitebait Soup

This light and delicious soup is features the soft textured whitebait as its main ingredient. Ham, bamboo slices, green vegetables in the soup adds to its aromatic taste.

Biluo Shelled Shrimps

Biluo Shelled Shrimps is named after Bi Luo Chun tea, which is produced in Suzhou and is arguably the finest green tea.

BiLuo Shrimps

This dish is prepared using Bi Luo Chun tea leaves to flavour the shrimp, giving the dish its unique taste.

Cracking Eel Paste

Cracking Eel Paste, is another Suzhou dish. The eel paste is made with rice field eels being broiled, stir-fried or quick-boiled.

Cracking Eel Paste

The word cracking refers to the cracking sound of oil still present when the dish is served right out of the kitchen.

Watermelon Chicken

Watermelon Chicken is unique in look and taste. The chicken is first braised, then marinated in a watermelon. The final result is a dish with both sweet and savoury flavours.

Watermelon Chicken

Taihu Boat Dishes

In addition to these formal banquet dishes, Taihu Lake in Suzhou also offers a unique array of seafood dishes.

Taihu Lake Scenery

With Taihu lake in the backdrop, you can experience what is known as Taihu Boat Dishes. Taihu Boat Dishes dates back to the Tang Dynasty, which is over 1,000 years ago. Officials and merchants would hold banquets on boats at the lake, enjoying the beautiful scenery while feasting. Since 1994, Boat Dishes have become a well established tradition in Guangfu town, at the eastern bank of the lake.

Suzhou Taihu boat dishes

Currently, there are 13 boat restaurants along the fishing harbor at Taihu Lake. The wide variety of seafood available includes the well known Steamed White Fish, White Shrimps and Whitebait.

Taihu Lake white Fish

White fish is a specialty of the Taihu Lake. It is steamed with shredded ginger and red and green peppers. The dish is wonderful in texture, look, aroma and of course, taste.

Suzhou Snacks

If you have sweet tooth, Suzhou has various snacks to impress and satisfy your sweet desires. Some of these snacks may not appear in large restaurants but you will definitely be able to find them in ordinary snack booths or shops.

Green Dumpling

Green Dumpling Snack

Green Dumpling is a special food during April. It is made from glutinous rice, the green colour is from the juice of bromegrass which takes you a fresh taste, and the filling is made from sweetened bean paste and sugar.

Pan-Fried Steamed Bun

Pan-fried Steam Buns

It’s classical, fantastic, wonderful, unexceptionable, terrific and awesome. In fact, shengjian mantou (生煎馒头, Shengjian mantou) is not a kind of steamed bun but stuffed bun. Shengjian mantou is fried on a big pan in shallow oil, so the bottom of shengjian mantou is very crisp and tasty. The most wonderful part is the filling which select and use leg meat of the hog. The secret of the dainty lies in the meat jelly which is mingled with the filling. After the frying, jelly is melted into juice, so it’s absolutely tasty.

Tips:

Enjoying the shengjian mantou you need some skills. The mantou just off the fried pan is very hot, you should take care of your mouth and tongue. The right way is use your tooth to tear a small hole on the top and sip off the delicious meat juice carefully, the last step is eating up the mantou.

Paopao Wonton

Paopao Wonton Dumpling Soup

Wonton is a classical snack in South China, paopao wonton is the favourite for girls in Suzhou. The fillings usually use pork and shrimp and not filled too full, the remaining space is left for the air.

Suzhou style Noodles

Suzhou style noodles

Suzhou style noodles is very famous in the Yangtze River Delta area. The same as Japanese Ramen, Suzhou style noodles emphasize the soup too. Soup is the soul of the noodle. The different is Suzhou local noodle use fine noodles not the thick noodles in Japan. Due to the different colour of the soup, there are red soup noodles and white soup noodle. Also, the toppings (in Chinese it is called jiaotou 浇头) are important too, you can choose chop steak, smoked fish, peeled prawns, eel paste or something else as your toppings.

Suzhou style Mooncake

Suzhou style mooncakes

Mooncake is the traditional snack during the Mid-Autumn Day. Suzhou style mooncake is very special in China. It is pan fried with pork as the special filling. Other styles of mooncakes use fillings like sweetened bean paste, yolk, lotus and pineapple. The savoury taste and pork filling makes this Suzhou style mooncake unique.

More Suzhou Snacks

There are actually a lot of local snacks left to you to discover on the street, such as Dragon Head Sweet Potatoes with Sugar Juice, Gorgon Fruit with Osmanthus, Plum Blossom Cakes, Smoked Fish and Boiled Lotus Roots with Osmanthus.

Dragon Head Sweet Potatoes with Sugar Juice

Gorgon Fruit with Osmanthus

Plum Blossom Cakes

Suzhou smoked fish

Please do check out the other articles on Discover Suzhou. We hope you’ll enjoy your stay in Suzhou.

Learn Some Mandarin

]]> http://ilearn-culture.com/travel/discover-suzhou-food-delights/feed/ 1 http://ilearn-culture.com/food/chinese-hot-pot-or-steam-boat/ http://ilearn-culture.com/food/chinese-hot-pot-or-steam-boat/#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 07:21:11 +0000 Candy Lu http://ilearn-culture.com/?p=4407

Raw meats ready to be cooked

On a cold winter night, there is nothing like a good Chinese hot pot to warm you up.

The Chinese hot pot boasts a history of more than 1000 years; it is a great creation by Chinese and has spread over to many other countries. It is extremely favoured by the Chinese people. There are restaurants which specialize in hot pot attracting people who prefer to cook their own style.

Chinese Hot pot or Steam boat, refers to a variety of stew, using a constantly boiling metal pot of stock (as broth/ soup base). Placed at the centre of the dining table, raw and fresh ingredients are laid out around the pot. Typical hot pot dishes would include thin slices of meat, vegetables, mushroom, wonton and a variety of seafood. The ingredients are cooked in the simmering pot and usually eaten after dipping in sauce.

History

The hot pot originated from the Mongolians and first appeared in China early Qing Dynasty. It became popular after Manchu army passed the Shanghai Pass in 1644.

Early in the 18th century of China, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong, Hot Pot was already featured upon their royal cruisine. Hot Pot later also became popular in Muslim restaurants.

1854, Zhengyang Restaurant was opened outside Qianmen in Beijing. This became the first Han restaurant with Hot Pot. The restaurant was renowned and exceptionally famous for its mutton being sliced as thin as paper.

Hotpot today has become widely popular in most of China. Many modern homes, particularly those in big cities, have replaced the traditional coal-heated hot pot or steam boat with more convenient electric, gas or induction cooker versions.

Regional variations

Several more distinct variations and styles have developed for the Chinese Hot Pot.

Beijing Hot Pot

Hot Pot in Beijing is eaten all year round. The typical Beijing Hot Pot is eaten indoors in winter. There are a few types of Beijing Hot Pot. More modern restaurants offer sectioned bowl with different flavoured broths in each section.

Traditional Beijing Hot Pot with a donut-shaped brass pot

The more traditional ones will serve the Hot Pot in a large brass vessel pot, with burning coals beneath and a chimney structure in the centre, forming a deep donut shaped pot. The broth is typically mild and fragrant.

Manchurian Hot Pot

The Manchurian Hot Pot is characterized by its plenty use of suan cai (Chinese sauerkraut) or Chinese pickled cabbage or sauerkraut. It provides a distinct flavouring for the soup. Hence, Manchurian Hot Pot is also known as Suan Cai Hot Pot.

The pickled cabbage pickled flavor is not too heavy hence the vegetable flavor still remains. The smell and the taste of sauerkraut are able to increase your appetite. Fatty pork is sometimes added to provide a complementing flavour to the soup base. The special flavour of the Manchurian Suan Cai Hot Pot has made it famous in the whole of China in recent years.

Manchurian Hot Pot

Sichuan Hot Pot

Sichuan Hot Pot is one of the most famous variations. It is well-known to have a heavily spicy taste, leaving a burning and numbing sensation in your tongue. The Sichuan Hot Pot is hence commonly also known as Ma La Hot Pot (Ma la meaning Numb and Spicy). The special spice added to the broth is the Hua Jiao (“Flower Pepper” or Sichuan Pepper).

In your Sichuan Hot Pot, it is common to have a variety of different meats including sliced mutton fillet.

Sichuan Hot Pot is quite different from other types of Hot Pot in China. The type of meat and soup base used and the sauces and condiments for flavouring the meat are all distinctively unique. The cities of Chengdu and Chongqing in Sichuan province are both famous for their many types of Sichuan Hot Pot.

Sichuan Hot Pot in a Yuan Yang Pot

Sichuan Hot Pot also offers an alternative. For those who do not fancy and cannot fanthom why many people are addicted to this fiery and numbing sensation of the Sichuan pepper, you can opt for a split pot.

Yuan Yang Hot Pot

A split pot as seen on the picture above, dividing the pot into 2 sections resembling the yin & yang symbol in Taoism, allows two different soup base in the pot to suit everyone’s taste at the dining table. This type of Hot Pot design is also known as Yuan Yang Hot Pot or Mandarin Duck Hot Pot (Yuan Yang refering to Mandarin ducks which are commonly seen in pairs).

Cantonese Hot Pot

The Cantonese variation involves mixing a raw egg (sometimes with condiments like soya sauce) and pouring into the broth. According to Chinese herbalist theories, this will reduce the ‘heatiness’ absorbed by the food and thus reduce the tendency of getting a sore throat after your Hot Pot meal. In the broth also contains Chinese herbs and mutton chunks cooked with rice wine and root ginger, which helps remove the rank flavour in the mutton.

Herbs used in food has a long history in china, different kinds of herbs have different functions in people’s health. The Chinese, and especially the Cantonese, are avid users of medical herbs. The Cantonese Hot Pot lets you enjoy delicious food while taking your health into consideration.

Taiwanese Hot Pot

The Taiwanese hot pot is also called shabu-shabu due to its Japanese influence. It uses thinly sliced meat and vegetables, and is usually served with Japanese-flavored dipping sauce. Shabu-shabu is quite different from Chinese styled Hot Pot. It is a little bit sweet and sometimes savory.

While considered a winter dish, it is eaten all year round. People eat the food with a dipping sauce consisting of shacha sauce (a Chinese condiment with dried shrimp and other spice as ingredients) and raw egg yolk.

Taiwanese Hot Pot or Shabu-Shabu

Fusion Hot Pot

Recently, newer innovations of the Hot Pot are flourishing in modern cities like Shanghai. These Fusion Hot Pot establishments offer a mix and match of different styles. You can pick your own soup base, meat, vegetables and sauce from an endless list of choices.

Some restaurants also offer mini Hot Pot. These mini Hot Pots are smaller variations so each individual will have their own mini hot pot with their desired broth and ingredients.

DIY Hot Pot

Lastly, there is your Do-It-Yourself Hot Pot. With electric and induction cooking hot pots easily available, many Chinese do set up their own Hot Pot right on their own dining tables. Staying cozy in your homes in winter and having a warm hearty Hot Pot dinner with families and friends is possibly the best meal you can have.

There is no one way of setting up your DIY Hot Pot, just whatever suits you and your dinner companions taste buds. You can also cook noodles in the pot or have steamed rice with the food.

Fresh Hot Pot ingredients

The Technique and Etiquette of Eating Hot Pot

If you are already salivating and can’t wait to join your Chinese friends in a Hot Pot meal, hold on a minute. If this is your first time around a Hot Pot table, knowing some basic techniques and etiquette will save you some embarrassment.

Cooking thinly sliced meat to perfection in a Hot Pot requires a certain amount of skill.

The Tools

Tools used are simple. Basically other than the Hot Pot, you will need a pair of cooking chopsticks and a small perforated ladle.

The ladle can be used to cook small items that will potentially be lost in the broth, for example thin sliced meat. With the food item in the ladle, dip it into the boiling broth.

Feel free to bob the ladle up and down to ensure it cooks thoroughly. When retrieving, let the broth drain properly before taking the ladle out to prevent spilling.

Cooking the Food

You may throw larger items into the pot for yourself and the rest of your table at any time.

However, for certain seafood like live prawns, clams and abalone, which takes longer to be cooked, it is generally a good etiquette to ask your Hot Pot companions first. They may want to scoop some food out of the pot before you place them in.

The time waiting for your food to be cooked is not wasted during your Hot Pot meals. It is an excellent time to interact with your families and friends.

Tip

The Art of cooking your food at a Hot Pot involves making sure you get to taste the freshest and meats, seafood and vegetables possible.

Grasping the cooking time is key, ensuring that your food is not overcooked, which will make your meats too tough and your vegetables soggy.

Meat that is sliced thinly requires a very short cooking time. Using the chopstick or ladle, dip the meat in the boiling soup for approximately 20-30 seconds and take it out just as the last bit of pinkness leaves the meat.

Seafood requires a longer time to cook. Overcooking them will leaves u a tough texture and lose the natural flavour, so you may need to check on them often in the pot.

A Caucasian girl enjoying her very own Chinese hot pot prepared at home.

Hot Pot Hygiene Tip

• Always wash hands before handling food and eating.
• Choose fresh food from quality supermarkets.
• Wash and cook all food thoroughly.
• Cook seafood for five more minutes before eating.
• Use different sets of chopsticks to handle raw and cooked meat to avoid cross contamination.

Vocabulary

火锅               huǒ guō                                hot pot

电磁炉          diàn cí lú                               induction cooker

涮羊肉          shuàn yáng ròu                   instant-boiled lamb

Food in Shanghai is like any global metropolis. You are able to find all sorts of International cuisines in this city, from Western steaks to Japanese sushi. Popular food and beverage chains like Mac Donald’s, KFC and Starbucks can be commonly spotted too. However if you are in Shanghai, you must try the Shanghainese cuisine and snacks.

Must Try Shanghai Snacks

Shanghai is the paradise of snacks, and its Snacks could be traced back to as early as the Southern Song Dynasty and became more exquisite in cooking when Shanghai grew into an important city in early Ming Dynasty.

After Shanghai was listed as a trading port by the end of the Qing Dynasty, various regional snacks were assimilated, developed and refined, bringing forth the specialty of Shanghai style. Four must-haves Shanghai Snacks are:

• Baked Sesame Pan Cake,
• Deep-fried Dough Sticks,
• Soybean Milk,
• Sticky Rice Combo

As well as dozens of kinds of pastries, buns, stuffed dumplings and cakes.

Shanghai snack is famed for being light, fresh and tasty, and has long been diners’ favourite for its characteristics.

Famous Snack Streets

There are a number of Famous Snack Streets (小吃街 xiǎo chī jiē : snack street) in Shanghai, such as:

• Qibao snack street – Minghang district
  • 七宝老街 (qī bǎo lǎo jiē : Qi Bao Old Street)
• Wujiang road snack street – Luwan district
  • 新吴江路 (xīn wú jiāng lù : New Wujiang Road) – near Metro Line 1 Nanjing Xi lu Station
• Huanghe food street – Huangpu district
  • 黄河路 小吃街 (huáng hé lù xiǎo chī jiē : Huanghe Road Snack Street)
• Zhapu road snack street – Hongkou district
  • 乍浦路 美食街 (zhà pǔ lù měi shí jiē : Zhapu Road Delicacy Street)
• Yunnan South road snack street – Huangpu district
  • 云南南路 小吃街 (yún nán nán lù xiǎo chī jiē ：Yunan South Road Snack Street)
• Guling road snack street – Jing’an district
  • 牯岭路 小吃街 (gǔ lǐng lù xiǎo chī jiē : Guling Road Snack Street)
• Chenghuang Temple – Huangpu district
  • 城隍庙 小吃广场 (chéng huáng miào xiǎo chī guǎng chǎng : Chenghuang Temple Snack Square)

Famous Restaurants Popular for its Snacks

There are also some Famous Restaurants Popular for its Snacks.

He Feng Lou

He Feng Lou brings all Chinese snacks together and introduces 144 snacks and dishes from 8 major styles and their 16 sub-cuisines. The two-storey restaurant serves on the first floor buffet-style Chinese cuisine numbering 300 in kinds according to their origins such as Shanghai, Sichuan & Hunan, Taiwan, Jiangsu, etc. The second floor features special Chinese and overseas snacks including Japanese Teppanyaki and is popular with tourists.

Address: 10 Wenchang Road

Tel: 021-63557878

Transportation: Bus 55, 930, 932, 980

Guang Ming Cun Restaurant

Guang Ming Cun Restaurant, open in 1948, is known for its dim-sum and snacks with over ten dishes awarded “Shanghai specialty snacks”. Those snacks are highly appreciated including Juicy Chicken Wanton Soup, Fried Crabmeat Stuffed Bun and Steamed Pork Stuffed Bun. Some signature dishes are superb like Crystal Shrimp, Peppery Beef Fillet with Honey, Crispy Duck, Turtle and Snake Soup with Herbs, Eye Brow-shaped Crispy Cake and Milky Date. The restaurant is popular with customers for its inexpensive price, authentic taste, comfortable ambience and excellent service.

Address: 588 Huaihai Road (M.)

Tel: 021-53067878

Transportation: Bus 42, 911, 945

Lu Bo Lang Restaurant

Lu Bo Lang Restaurant, located by nine-twist-bridge at Old City God Temple (Chenghuang Temple), has an elegant and peaceful surrounding matching the elegance of Mid-Pond-Pavilion tea house next door. It is well-known for its carefully selected raw materials and meticulous preparations and is highly praised by gourmands from home and abroad. The signature dish “Osmanthus Cake” is so sticky in texture that it gets stuck on plate or chopsticks but does not stick to your teeth and feels smooth in the mouth, carrying a faint fragrance of rice wine.

Address: 115-131 Yuyang Road

Tel: 021-63280602

Transportation: Bus 11, 64, 66, 126, 920

Wang Jia Sha Restaurant

Wang Jia Sha Restaurant, lying at the crossing Nanjing Road (W) and Shimen Road, enjoys high popularity in Shanghai for its wide selection, meticulous preparations and delicious taste. The most popular four must-eat dishes are its tasty and fried stuffed bun, delicious shrimp wanton soup, crunchy red bean pastry and crispy double-side fried noodle. Recently the restaurant has created a new and unique crab meat dim-sum series and dishes.

Address: 805Nanjing Road (W.)

Tel: 021-625330404

Transportation: Bus 21, 17, 112, 921

Feng Yu Restaurant

On early mornings of autumn or winter, it is a delight to visit this cozy restaurant and have some hot fried stuffed bun and fried tofu rice noodle soup. The white skin breaks once bitten.  The warm delicious soup and golden dough crusts are so luscious that they cover the slight grease of the buns. Inexpensive and tasty, Feng Yu is fairly popular in Shanghai.

Address: 41 Runjin Road (NO.2)

Tel: 021-53061742

Transportation: Metro Line 1 (Shaanxi Road (S) Station), Tourist Line 10, Bus 26, 945

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Read our following article on More Shanghai Snacks!

Longjing Shrimp is a typical famous dish in Hangzhou. It selects fresh shrimps from local rivers and cooked with Longjing Tea. Longjing Shrimp is famous for being cooked with the best Longjing Tea that are produced in the hills nearby Xihu (West Lake) city.

In Qing Dynasty, people used to cook the dishes with other high-quality new tea in Anhui Province, thereafter people in Hangzhou cooked the fresh shrimp with Longjing tea, and gave it a name “Longjing Shrimp”.

Longjing (Dragon Well) is a famous variety of green tea from Hangzhou in the Zhejiang province in China. Renowned for its high quality and intensely fragrant body, Longjing tea is well regarded as one of the most famous teas produced in China. Longjing tea possesses four qualities that set it above other teas: emerald green colour, aromatic flavour, overall appearance, and crisp and refreshing taste.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb raw, peeled & frozen baby shrimp
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• 1/8 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1 heaped tablespoon Longjing tea leaves
• 1/4 cup hot water
• Some chopped scallion
• 1 tablespoon egg white
• 1 teaspoon corn starch

Preparation :

1. Defrost the frozen shrimp, rinse well, and pat dry with paper towels. Add corn starch and egg white to the shrimp and marinate for 15 minutes.

2. Prepare the tea in a small tea pot by adding 1/4 cup hot water to the tea leaves. Set aside for 5 minutes and then filter the tea and set aside for the stir-fry.

3. Heat up 1 teaspoon cooking oil in a wok and toss in the shrimp. Do a few quick stir until the shrimp is 50% cooked, dish out and set aside. Wash the wok and heat it up again with the remaining 1 teaspoon cooking oil.

4. Add the shrimp back into the wok, and quickly follow by the tea, Shaoxing wine, salt, and chopped scallion. Do a quick stir over high heat until the shrimp is cooked, dish out and serve immediately.

Vocabulary

xiā
虾       shrimp      n.
chá
茶                    tea         n.
Lóng jǐng
龙   井            Longjing       n.

xiān lǜ sè
鲜  绿 色         Emerald green colour      n.

xiāng wèi nóng yù
香         味      浓   郁      Aromatic flavor         n.

Guoqiao is a rice noodle dish that means “across the bridge“.

The Legend of Guoqiao rice noodle

Legend has it that guo qiao mi xian came about when a young scholar in Yunnan province retreated to another place to prepare for the imperial examination in Qing Dynasty. His loving wife would travel and cross a nearby bridge to bring him his daily meal.

Frequently, his meal would turn cold by the time he gets to eat it. One day, quite by chance, she discovered a bowl of chicken soup could keep warm with a layer of oil on top. From then on, she would serve the noodles and meat slices with the oil layer soup and the young scholar could enjoy a warm meal every day. When the scholar did well in the examination, he credited his success to his wife’s noodles hence this dish Across the Bridge Rice Noodles was popularized.

Guoqiao Rice Noodles Recipe

It is a typical Yunnan local food. This dish consists of several assorted ingredients:

Ingredients

• 9 ounces very fine Chinese egg noodles
• 1 ounce spinach
• 2 ounces boneless chicken breasts
• 2 ounces fish fillets, skinned and de-boned
• 2 ounces shrimp or prawns, shelled
• 1/2 teaspoon rice wine
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ginger, chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon soy sauce
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons chicken fat

Cooking Directions

1. Blanch the spinach or rape briefly in boiling water, drain, and set aside. Mix the rice wine, ginger, 1/8 tsp of the salt, and the soy sauce into a marinade. Slice the chicken, fish, and prawns paper-thin. Spread out on a serving platter and add the marinade.

2. Heat a pot of water to boiling and add the noodles. Bring back to a boil and cook uncovered until they are soft, about 4 minutes for dried noodles and 2 minutes for fresh ones. Drain in a colander and lay the spinach on top.

3. Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan and add the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt, and the chicken fat. Bring to a fast boil for 1 minute. Transfer to a tureen, previously filled with hot water and then drained, and bring to the table with the platter of meats and the colander of noodles.

4. Pour the meat and noodles into the boiling hot broth. They will cook instantly. Stir and serve in individual bowls.

Learn Some Mandarin Words

guò qiáo mǐ xiàn
过    桥      米  线         Guo qiao rice noodle      n.
shēng yú piàn
生         鱼  片              Sashimi            n.
kuài zī
筷    子                         chopsticks       n.
mǐ fěn
米  粉                          rice noodles         n.

Shaomai is a traditional Chinese dumpling served in dianxin / dim sum.

There are two regional varieties of shaomai: a Cantonese version and a version from the Jiangnan region.

Cantonese shaomai (also known as siew mai)

As prepared in Cantonese cuisine, shaomai is also referred to as “pork and mushroom dumpling.”

Its standard filling is a combination of ingredients, consisting primarily of seasoned ground pork, whole and chopped shrimp, and Chinese black mushroom in small bits. The outer covering is made of a thin sheet of lye water dough. The center is usually garnished with an orange dot, made of roe or diced carrot. Although a green dot made with a pea may also be used. The decorative presentations vary from restaurant to restaurant.

Jiangnan shaomai

Shaomai prepared in the Jiangnan region (south of the Yangtze River, stretching from Shanghai to Nanjing) are quite different.

The wrapper is larger and tougher than the Cantonese version. The filling is similar to zongzi (Chinese-style tamales) with soy sauce/rice wine/sugar-marinated pork pieces in glutinous rice and steamed with some lard. It is larger in size than the Cantonese version.

However, most people in Western countries associate shaomai only with the Cantonese version due to the Cantonese immigrants that formed the majority of Chinese communities. Recently, the Jiangnan version is starting to appear in areas with high-density new immigrants from mainland China, such the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

This recipe in this article is the Jiangnan variety. It basically makes use of ground pork, shrimps, and mushrooms as the main ingredients. Try this delicious Shaomai recipe!

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ lbs ground pork
• 1 cup shrimp, minced
• 2 cups water chestnuts, minced
• 5 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup onion, minced
• 1 cup carrots, minced
• 1 ½ cups white mushroom, minced
• 1 pack won ton wrapper
• ¼  cup scallions, minced
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 piece raw egg
• water for steaming

Cooking procedures:

1. Combine all the ingredients except for the water and wanton wrapper and mix thoroughly.

2. Wrap the mixed ingredients using the won ton wrapper.

3. Using a steamer, steam the wrapped shaomai for 15 to 25 minutes. The time depends on the size of each individual piece (larger size means more time steaming).

4. Serve hot with soy sauce or lemon dip. Share and enjoy!

Vocabulary:

shāo mài
烧    卖 :    Shaomai          n.

yú  zǐ
鱼  子:    Roe   n.

Hú luó bō dīng
胡     萝 卜  丁：      Diced carrot   n.

Laba Festival is celebrated on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. La in Chinese means the 12th lunar month and ba means eight. The majority Han Chinese have long followed the tradition of eating Laba rice porridge on that day since Song dynasty about 900 years ago.

Legends about the origin of this festivity abound. The most popular one is that Sakyamuni, the first Buddha and founder of Buddhism, attained enlightenment on the eighth day of the twelfth month. Sutras were chanted in the temples and rice porridge with beans, nuts and dried fruit was prepared for the Buddha. With the passing of time the custom extended, especially in rural areas where peasants would pray for a plentiful harvest in this way.

Nowadays, large Buddhism temples still offer it to Buddhists to show their faith to Buddha on laba.

Laba porridge is made with local specialties. In different regions there are different ingredients in addition to the rice. Actually eight ingredients (or more) are used, cooked with sugar (or salt).

Here is one classic recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of rice or glutinous rice;
• red beans, millet, Chinese sorghum, peas, dried lotus seeds, red beans, dried dates, walnut meat each 1/10 cup(if you can not find these ingredients you can use other nuts, dried fruits and beans instead);
• Sugar (crystal sugar is better);
• 10 cups of water.

Method:

1. Before cooking, clean rice and eight ingredients and dip them separately in cold water for 5 hours;

2. Put rice and eight ingredients into a deep pot;

3. Add 10 cups of water and sugar;

4. Turn on the fire and make sure the flame is high, put the lid on;

5. When it is boiled, turn down the fire and take off the lid;

6. Let the porridge simmer until it begins to emit a very delicious smell, add some sugar you’d like;

7. Turn off the fire when porridge becomes sticky.

Laba porridge is not only easy to prepare, but also a nutritious winter food because it contains amino acids, protein and other vitamins people need. Cooked nuts and dried fruit are good for smoothing nerves, nourishing one’s heart and vitality, and strengthening the spleen. Enjoy!

Vocabulary:

là bā  jié
腊   八 节        Laba Festival         n.

là bā zhōu
腊 八 粥          Laba rice porridge    n.

sù mǐ
粟 米                Millet                    n.

gāo liáng
高      梁          Chinese sorghum    n.

wān dòu
豌   豆               Peas                   n.

lián zǐ
莲   子             Dried lotus seeds    n.

dà zǎo
大   枣             Dried dates            n.

hé táo rén
核   桃   仁      walnut meat           n.

In China, red bean soup is a popular dish. It is categorized as a tang shui, (literally translated as sugar water), or sweet soup. It is often served cold during the summer, and hot in the winter. Leftover red bean soup can also be frozen to make ice pops.

It is one of the main desserts offered after a meal in most Chinese restaurants. When served, it is plain most of the time. The fancier restaurants may offer red bean soup with sago or sometimes with glutinous rice balls.

This is a wonderful dessert that you can serve hot or cold after a meal. It tastes amazingly fresh, perfect for summer. You can prepare it yourself in the comfort of your own home.

Ingredients:

• 500 gram red bean
• 200 gram granulated sugar
• a pot of clean water

Methods:

1. Sieve red beans using a sieve and pick out small pebbles or stones among the red beans.
2. Wash the red beans under running tap water. Make sure the red beans are cleaned thoroughly
3. Put in red beans into a pot of clean water
4. Heat the pot on the stove and keep it to boil
5. Open the cover of the pot to avoid water from flowing out
6. Boil it for approximately one hour
7. Use a ladle to scoop up some red beans
8. Examine the red beans. If the red beans split open means that they are well-cooked
9. Put in granulated sugar and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved
10. Keep it aside to cool. When it is cooled enough, pour the red bean soup into a bowl.

Now, your sweet and delicious red bean soup is ready to be served. Put some ice cubes to enhance its taste. Feel free and relaxing while having a bowl of red bean soup particularly during summer and spring time.

Red bean soup serves better when it is chilled. You may also freeze the red bean soup to make some red bean ice cream ice stick or popsicle.

Vocabulary:
xī mǐ
西 米                  Sago

fāng táng
方      糖            Sliced sugar                              n.

táng shuǐ
糖       水           Sweet soup                                n.

bīng bàng
冰       棒          Popsicle                                       n.

tāng  yuán
汤       圆          glutinous rice balls                 n.

The Sichuan Cuisine originates in Sichuan province of southwestern China. Its flavours are famed to be bold and particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of garlic and chili peppers, as well as the unique flavour of the Sichuan peppercorn (花椒: huā jiāo). Peanuts are also a prominent ingredient in Szechuan cooking, which adds to its texture and frangrance.

Chongqing Spicy Chicken one of the more popular Sichuan dishes. The juicy and wholesome chicken pieces are well blended in and seasoned with deliciously spicy condiments of generous amounts of red hot chilli and sichuan peppers.

This is a favourite dish among spicy food lovers. You might just find yourself tearing from the hot numbing sensations but still wanting more of this addictive dish!

The Recipe

Main Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts – 1kg

Sauce:

• Sichuan Peppercorn – 8g
• Dried Red Chilli – 30g
• Scallion – 15g
• Ginger – 10g
• MSG – 2g
• Salt – 8g
• Shao Xing rice wine / cooking wine – 15g
• Light soy sauce – 10g
• Vegetable Oil – 25g
• Garlic – 5g
• White Granulated Sugar – 2g

Preparation:

1. Cut the chicken breast into small pieces.
2. Sprinkle light soy sauce, salt, MSG on the chicken breast. Then mix the chicken breast in the cooking wine and let stand for approximately 30 minutes.
3. When the oil in the wok is hot, add in the scallion, ginger and garlic and stir-fry briefly.
4. Then add in the marinated chicken breast in the wok and stir-fry over high heat.
5. Put in the dried red chili and Sichuan peppercorn. Stir-fry until fragrant.
6. Lastly add salt, MSG and white granulated sugar to taste.

And there is your Chongqing Spicy Chicken! Spicy and Hot to taste, this dish serves well with white rice.

Learn Some Mandarin: