Shanghai Cuisine

About Shanghai Cuisine

By the ULTIMATE Shanghai Editorial Team

Shanghai’s own cooking, benbang cuisine, is defined by “nong you chi jiang”: rich oil and deep, dark soy. This is our guide to its dumplings, its slow braises and its comforting soups, and how to eat them.

Shanghai cuisine

Authentic Shanghai cooking is known as benbang cuisine, and its philosophy fits in four characters: nong you chi jiang, “rich oil, red sauce”. Dark soy sauce, sugar and Shaoxing rice wine give the city’s dishes their glossy, savoury depth and the gentle sweetness that sets them apart from the rest of China.

The dumpling houses

Casual Shanghai eating revolves around hot, broth-filled dough, eaten with a splash of black vinegar and fine shreds of ginger.

Rich oil and deep soy: savoury, glossy and always with a touch of sweetness.

Xiaolongbao

The soup dumpling: a translucent, hand-pleated wrapper around seasoned pork and a burst of hot broth, made from a gelatine-rich stock that melts as the dumplings steam. Lift one gently onto your spoon, nip a small hole in the skin, sip the broth and then eat the rest. In autumn, look for versions made with hairy crab.

Shengjianbao

The xiaolongbao’s sturdier cousin: a thicker, lightly leavened bun filled with pork and broth, fried in a wide shallow pan until the base is crisp and golden, then scattered with sesame and spring onion. It is the city’s favourite breakfast. Bite carefully; the filling is very hot.

Red-braised and savoury classics

Benbang home cooking relies on slow braising and on cold appetisers served at the start of a meal.

Hongshao rou

Red-braised pork belly: cubes of pork caramelised with rock sugar and dark soy, then simmered slowly until the fat melts on the tongue and the sauce turns to lacquer. It is the dish many Shanghainese remember from their grandmothers’ kitchens.

Congyou banmian

Scallion oil noodles: chewy wheat noodles tossed in an oil infused with slowly browned, crisp spring onions and seasoned soy. Simple, cheap and very good.

Yan du xian

A classic soup of the Jiangnan region, made in spring, when the bamboo shoots are new: fresh pork, cured salt pork, bamboo shoots and knots of bean-curd sheet, simmered into a milky, deeply savoury broth.

How to eat them

Order dumplings by the basket and share; a Shanghainese meal is a table of plates, not a single course. Start with the cold appetisers, move on to the braises and finish with noodles. For our pick of the city’s restaurants, from the dumpling houses to the dining rooms on the Bund, see our story of eating in Shanghai and our restaurant list.

Our advice: have shengjianbao for breakfast, xiaolongbao for lunch and red-braised pork for dinner, and come in autumn for the hairy crab season.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Shanghai Cuisine before you go.