This article originally appeared on MUNCHIES in January 2016.
One of my finest memories of Shanghai was the rush I felt the moment evening classes were dismissed. My friend and I would run downstairs, outside, down the concrete steps, and into the city streets, where lights poured out and the lingering smell of roasted yam from a nearby street vendor tempted us to break our dinner plans.One of us would fling an arm up, and eventually we'd be in a cab, hurtling past our sleepy district, up highly elevated roads that seemed to graze the side of skyscrapers and made Shanghai seem exactly like the hyper-futuristic metropolis its city planners designed it to be.
One of my finest memories of Shanghai was the rush I felt the moment evening classes were dismissed. My friend and I would run downstairs, outside, down the concrete steps, and into the city streets, where lights poured out and the lingering smell of roasted yam from a nearby street vendor tempted us to break our dinner plans.One of us would fling an arm up, and eventually we'd be in a cab, hurtling past our sleepy district, up highly elevated roads that seemed to graze the side of skyscrapers and made Shanghai seem exactly like the hyper-futuristic metropolis its city planners designed it to be.
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Shanghai Laolao (上海姥姥) is a corner restaurant right next to the Bund. It sits on the intersection of Fuzhou Lu (福州路) and Sichuan Lu (四川路)—two streets whose names I have not forgotten, even as the names of my classmates and the material we learned have long faded from memory.We'd make the last seating of the night and would always order the same thing: red-braised fatty pork made so sweet and tender by whatever sorcery goes on in that kitchen; a delicate, creamy tomato and egg stir-fry that changed the way I thought about egg; and oil-cooked eggplant that made the vegetable taste like succulent pieces of meat. If we were particularly hungry that evening, we'd get stir-fried rice cakes folded with pieces of cabbage and shiitake mushrooms. Home-style Shanghainese food, the way grandmother made it, is the motto of the restaurant.
Despite all the international eateries that our study abroad group frequented and all the wonderful higher-end joints we could have afforded, it was Shanghai Laolao that won our hearts over. Four years since then, I'm happymo to report that it's still open.Shanghai is an ever-changing city, where skyscrapers seem to pop up overnight. Because eateries have such a high turnover rate, you're never really sure if your favorite restaurant has folded or if you're just at the wrong place. Heavy immigration and international influences add to the confusion over what Shanghai cuisine really is.
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Ask a long-term expat what quintessential Shanghai food is and she'll spin out a list of Italian, Cantonese, French, Spanish, and New American preferences—all with a fantastic cocktail menu. Ask a local who was born and raised in Shanghai and he'll respond without blinking: "Xiaolongbao (小笼包), shengjianbao (生煎包), red-braised dishes (红烧), crayfish (小龙虾), and hairy crab (大闸蟹), when it's the right season." For the sake of nostalgia, I like the local's take on things.
What I perceive as "old-school" Shanghainese cuisine is fundamentally sweet in flavor. It's not inundated with spices; preservatives are used sparingly; and while soy sauce is a common ingredient, dishes tend to veer to the softer side. Shanghai used to be an old fishing village and its proximity to the Yangtze River means a lot of freshwater fish and crustaceans.In reality, what is iconic is all a matter of perspective. And so this is my list of what I perceive to be iconic—and, of course, the most delicious:
Xiaolongbao (小笼包)
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De Xing Guan: 471 Guangdong Lu 德兴馆:广东路471号The Dining Room: No A-003, LG2, L'Avenue, 99 Xianxia Lu.
Shaomai (烧卖)
Pork chop with rice cake (排骨年糕)
Red-braised pork (红烧肉)
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Shengjianbao (生煎包)
Shepherd's Purse (荠菜)
Slippery Shrimp (水晶虾)
Deep-fried anchovies (油煎凤尾鱼)
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Baked quail eggs (烤鹌鹑蛋)
Tangyuan (汤圆)
Crayfish (小龙虾)
Hairy crab (大闸蟹)
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