Shanghai Cuisine

Food in Shanghai was amazing! I tried everything from street food, to restaurant cuisine, to home made cooking at relatives’ homes. ‘

One of the staples of Shanghai cuisine is xiao long bao (pictured above & below), or soup dumplings. These particular ones are from a famous spot where people come from far and wide to try. And they were delicious – Little pockets with plenty of  savory soup and meat.

Street food was a delight- So many choices, even compared to NYC. Skewer sticks of grilled chicken, lamb, pork, squid, vegetables- potato, tofu, cabbage, leafy greens with spices- delightful peppery mix.

Fried sesame balls, glutinous rice balls, fish balls, fried radish cakes, fried scallion pancakes. Also warm roasted sweet potatoes (really miss that!), roasted chestnuts, peanuts, walnuts, crispy sesame chips, and so much more!

We also visited quite a few restaurants, like New NanHua Restaurant, Cantonese Family Restaurant, 930 and several wonderful huo guo (hot pot) ones. My favorite dishes were sweet/sour fish with pine nuts and peas; rice with Chinese sausage; cucumbers displayed beautifully with rice noodles in a yummy sauce; pork buns lightly fried on the bottom (that my dad and I had at the famous walking street, Nanjing Lun); fried duck skin pieces with thin pancake, sweet + salty sauce, onion, cucumber- A version of Peking Duck.

As for dessert, I loved something made in a soup called “tang yaun” which is  glutinous rice ball filled with black sesame. Also pretty much anything with sweet red bean paste, and fried pumpkin buns.

We also ate at home quite a bit, and I enjoyed that experience as well. What was great about that was every morning the person who was cooking for the day would go out and buy fresh meat and vegetables to make for lunch and dinner! I loved the meal below of egg battered fried chicken, lima beans, beef and onions, tofu and celery.

Being in Shanghai was truly a never ending and eye opening culinary experience!