Shanghai, as Mainland China’s most modern and cosmopolitan city, is a gastronome’s heaven. With delicious street food at every corner and world-class restaurants, food-lovers who travel to Shanghai can feast on almost every delicacy under the sun.
Street Food
Although the conscientious traveler should keep in mind that most street food has unhealthy levels of oil and MSG, partaking of some of Shanghai’s street food is an essential part of experiencing the city, and can be enjoyed in moderation. Street food has inspired chefs the world over and it’s a great way to experience the local dining culture.
Snack on cumin-spiced skewers of octopus tentacles while strolling along The Bund, gazing at the city skyline and the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower, which is impressively lit at night. On side streets, especially near the Yu Yuan Gardens complex, a multitude of street vendors sell pockets of fried dough filled with Chinese leeks, grated turnip, and minced pork, among other fillings, and sizzling trays of pot-stickers are trundled around on carts that combine the functions of stove as well as transportation.
Skilled cooks scrape batter onto hot griddles and deftly thin them into crepes, then fill them with green onions, deep-fried crisps, and chili sauce before rolling them into a convenient street burrito for you to munch on as you walk. Other moveable feasts include naan-style breads baked in something similar to a tandoori oven, but also pushed around on a cart, and impromptu street barbecues with skewers of lamb, pork, chicken and beef roasted as you watch.
If you get tired, join the crowds at the folding tables crammed onto the sidewalk and order a bowl of Shanghai vegetable rice or a serving of fried noodles. In the morning, head out early to grab a steamed bun filled with pork or vegetables before they sell out.
Soup-Filled Dumplings or Xiao Long Bao
These famous round soup-filled dumplings, xiao long bao, are pleated so the dumplings can expand as they are steamed and fill with the juices from the meat filling. To fully enjoy them, pick them up carefully with your chopsticks and make a small hole in the dumpling skin. Drain the soup carefully into your porcelain spoon to cool slightly before slurping it up and eating the dumpling. You can pop the whole dumpling into your mouth, of course, if you aren’t afraid of scalding your tongue.
Don’t be deceived by the crowds of Chinese tourists lining up around the block at Yu Yuan Gardens’ Nanxiang Dumpling Shop. Nanxiang’s dumplings may have been amazing once, but now the touristy restaurant’s dumplings suffer from too-thick and chewy skins, and less than the best quality ingredients.
For a better xiao long bao experience, head to Din Tai Fung Restaurant in the award-winning Xintiandi district. You will pay a little more for a more refined eating experience, but the Din Tai Fung’s dumplings’ thin, succulent skins filled with savory soup make the visit completely worth it.
Xinjiang Noodles and Jiaozi
Restaurants selling the hand-pulled noodles originating from the Muslim inhabitants of Northwestern China are fixtures on many street corners in Shanghai. For just over a dollar, you can watch skilled noodle chefs stretch the noodles, la mian, by hand before cooking them in a vat of broth and covering them with a variety of meat and vegetable toppings. Xinjiang restaurants are also a good place to get jiaozi, the simple pork-filled dumplings that are boiled and served with black vinegar and chili sauce.
World-Class Dining
Shanghai has some of the most varied fine restaurants in the world, from the French M on the Bund to a variety of ethnic restaurants. Try Azul for tapas from the talented Peruvian chef or Bellagio in the Xintiandi district for upscale Taiwanese fare.
Yunnan restaurants downtown serve up Southeast Asian influenced dishes scented with lemongrass and chilies from China’s Southwestern provinces that are rich with minority cultures. If you like spicy food, many of the best local restaurants serve excellent Sichuan cuisine, in spite of their distance from Sichuan province.
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Camilla Cheung is a Canadian freelance writer currently living in China. She has published travel guides and articles on various websites, and blogs on food and cooking at www.foodrepublik.com.