Kent Wang from Richmond, Vancouver (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Shanghai’s history is rich, but, as a cosmopolitan city, relatively short. Before the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, following the 1st Opium War, Shanghai was little more than a fishing village. All that changed when the British named Shanghai as a treaty port. As Shanghai grew, it was not as a single entity, but rather as a conglomeration of “concessions” to foreign powers. The French, British, and Americans along with the Germans, Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese, and Russians all had “concessions” in Shanghai, and they all demanded the right of “extraterritoriality.” They would be bound only by the laws of their own countries, not by the laws of China. What emerged was an interesting mixture of architecture and industry, Chinese and European cultures that both blended and clashed. By 1943, the Japanese were largely in control, and by the end of the 1940’s most foreigners had cut and run, leaving Shanghai as the heart of the new guard, from whence the Cultural Revolution received guidance from Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, ¼ of the Gang of 4.
Aside from its proximity to the ocean (“Shanghai” 上海 actually means “on the sea”), it is also within a few hours of a large number of some of China’s more popular (and populous) places. The Yangtze River Delta (長江三角洲) is a bulging Megalopolis, 88 million strong. Hangzhou (杭州) is 100 km to the southwest. Suzhou (苏州) is 100 km due west. And Wuxi (无锡) and Tai Lake (太湖) are 100 km northwest. Larger cities of Ningpo (宁波) and Nanjing (南京) are 160 km south and 240 km west respectively. River towns like Tongli (铜陵市) and Wuzhen (乌镇), and hillside resort villages like Moganshan (莫干山) are all only a few hours from Shanghai. Shanghai was at the right place at the right time for its rapid emergence in the new China.
Maybe because of its patchwork history and it’s spider web like delta geography, it’s hard to associate a particular cuisine with Shanghai. That said, there are certainly dishes which connoisseurs of Chinese food associate with Shanghai.
Foremost among these has got to be Xiǎolóngbāo (小笼包). Like other Chinese dishes, the English translation, “steamed dumplings” just doesn’t do this tasty treat justice. A thin flour pastry is wrapped around a filling of pork, sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce and shaoxing wine. Handling these floppy balls of steamy soup and ‘filling’ with chopsticks so that they don’t burst between the bamboo steamer, the small ceramic dipping plate filled with Zhenjiang vinegar (镇江香醋) and slivers of fresh ginger, and your mouth, takes practice, but it’s well worth the effort.
I’ll never forget the first time I tried Pídàn Dòufu 皮蛋豆腐. When it came to my plate, it was already minced up and I didn’t really pay attention to the black and brown specks stirred with a white, cold, almost cheesy mass. All I knew was that I really liked it. When I was then shown my first pidan (usually translated as “thousand year old egg” or “century egg”), my first thought was “no way am I going to eat this”. Think of peeling a hard boiled egg, but instead of the outside of the egg being white, it is amber black. When cut open, the yolk is greenish blue grey. It’s actually an egg that has been preserved by being treated with ash and alkaline, wrapped in clay and buried for 6-8 weeks. It is not, nor was it ever, soaked in horse urine – as I was first lead to believe. Pidan can be made with a duck egg or a chicken egg, but it’s not something one usually eats solo. My favorite way to eat it is in the Shanghai style cold dish, Pidan Doufu. Combined with fresh silky doufu, finely chopped cilantro, diced fresh ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, and often accompanied by pork floss, its pleasing taste is second only to it’s presentation. Really a delightful way to start a Shanghainese meal.
Another largely unknown dish outside of China is, Típáng (红烧蹄膀 Hóngshāo Típáng). Appearing like a pork roast covered in fat with a thin layer of skin covering the entire thing, in actuality, it is a pork trotter or a pork shoulder that is stewed for hours on the top of a stove in a combination of soy sauce, water, garlic, shaoxing wine, green onions, rock sugar, and star anise until it emerges from the wok ready to eat. Cooked well, it is unbelievably tender and is easily picked off the bone with chopsticks. Not only is the meat delicious, many people believe that the fat and the rind are really the tastiest portions of Tipang. Not sure where it had its beginning, but it’s a popular winter dish in Shanghai and surrounding areas.
Another fun winter food with Zhejiang origins is called “Lion’s Head” or Shīzitóu 狮子头. It can be described as a stewed pork and cabbage meatball. It’s large size and it’s shape are probably the reasons for the name. Like most dishes, there are variations of Shīzitóu. Color varies from white to red (soy sauce). Usually made with pork (can be beef or even vegetarian). Chinese cabbage, diced mushrooms, doufu, and diced bamboo shoots can all be found in Shizitou.
Last, but not least, is 炒年糕 Chǎo Niángāo – The name means fried (new) years cake. I always associated the name niangao with a sweet fried treat we eat during the Chinese New Year. In Shanghai, however, chao niangao is eaten all year round and it often takes the form of a wide, thick noodle. Sometimes, it takes other shapes. Rectangles, ovals, and circles (representing coins) are all common. During CNY, another common form one sees is that of a pair of fish. The New Years saying “年年有餘 nián nián yǒu yú” means that you should have surplus at the end of every year. The word yú “surplus” is a homonym for another word yú which means “fish”. Two years, two fish.
Like so many other things Chinese, I’ve introduced only the tip of the iceberg, with a few well known Shanghainese foods. Hairy Crab, Beggar’s Chicken, and Drunken Shrimp are all fun and tasty as well. And the modern cuisine, both Chinese and International, which one can find in areas like Xintiandi (新天地), is some of the best in all of China.
Chinese Odyssey 38
Peace Hotel, Peoples Park
to the west, old Shanghai
Pudong, growing out
building up to the sky.
Xiaolongbao at Nan Xiang
fusion food Xintiandi
Bicycles replaced
by the new MRT
The Panda in the Room PD 