Shanghai Butterfly Crackers
Shanghai butterfly crackers, known as hudie su, are golden puff-pastry palmiers with delicate layers, butter aroma, and a characteristically restrain…
Shanghai-Style Borscht
Shanghai-style borscht, or luosong tang, is a warm tomato-based beef and vegetable soup shaped by the city's Haipai restaurant tradition.
Shanghai Deep-Fried Pork Chop
Shanghai deep-fried pork chop is a thin, crisp Haipai favorite served with tangy la jiang you, often alongside borscht in old-style Western restauran…
Shanghai Qingtuan (Green Rice Balls)
Soft, jade-green glutinous rice cakes with sweet or savory centers. Qingtuan is a seasonal Jiangnan snack closely associated with Qingming and spring…
Shanghai Fresh Meat Mooncakes
Shanghai fresh meat mooncakes, or xian rou yue bing, are palm-sized baked pastries with a crisp flaky shell and hot, juicy minced pork filling.
Shanghai Eight Treasure Duck
Shanghai eight treasure duck is a celebratory whole duck filled with sticky rice and varied ingredients, then slow-cooked until tender and richly sav…
Shanghai Crab Shell Pastry (Xiekehuang)
Small, golden, sesame-topped pastries with a flaky bite. Xiekehuang can be sweet or savory; the crab-shell name does not tell you the filling.
Shanghai Crystal Shrimp
Shanghai crystal shrimp is a refined stir-fry of peeled shrimp, prized for its pale translucent sheen, clean flavor, and tender, springy bite.
Osmanthus Sticky Rice Lotus Root
Tender lotus root with rice-filled centers and fragrant osmanthus syrup: a Jiangnan sweet dish that can arrive with the cold starters.
Shanghai Yanduxian Soup
Shanghai yanduxian is a slow-simmered soup of fresh and cured pork, bamboo shoots, and tofu-skin knots in a pale savory broth.
Shanghai Eel Noodles
Shanghai eel noodles bring together tender eel shreds, thin noodles, fragrant garlic, pepper, and a dark savory sauce in a satisfying local bowl.
Shanghai Kaofu
Shanghai sixi kaofu is a cool sweet-savory appetizer of porous braised wheat gluten, mushrooms, wood ear, daylily buds, and peanuts.