Food-All about Shanghai-All that you need to know living or travelling in Shanghai

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Food All about Shanghai

There is no doubt that a great varieties of food can be found in a city as large as Shanghai. Chinese food is already known for its varieties. The food you can find in Shanghai is not limited to Chinese food. Other Asian food like Japanese food, Korean food, Thailand food, etc are also quite popular in Shanghai. Italian, French and American food are most popular among western food.

The Eight Cuisines

Due to the diversity of the climate and customs among different areas, a lot of cuisines have been developed over the thousands of years. Among them, 8 cuisines are most famous.

Si Chuan (川菜)
Cantonese(粤菜)
Shan Dong (鲁菜)
Zhe Jiang (浙菜)
Hu Nan (湘菜)
An Hui (徽菜)
Fu Jian (闽菜)
Jiang Su (苏菜)

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Chinese Food Overview

Chinese Food cooking has a totally different concept than western food from ingredients selection, ingredients processing and then cooking method, all the way to even serving.
Get an overview on how Chinese food are made and served here!

Shanghai Cuisine

Shanghai Cuisine is not one of the eight famous cuisines of China due to its relatively shorter history. However there are still some very famous Shanghai food. Xiao Long Bao Zi(小笼包子), aka Soup Dumpling, is probably the most famous among them.
Read more about Xiao Long Bao Zi

More famous Shanghai Food

Shi Zi Tou(狮子头)

Kou San Si(扣三丝)

Gu Lao Pork with Pineapple(菠萝咕咾肉)

Shui Jing Shrimp(水晶虾仁)

Bai Zhan Chicken(白斩鸡)

Si Chuan Cuisine (川菜)

Si chuan Cuisine, also known in the West as Szechuan Cuisine, is probably the most popular Cuisine in China, and also probably the most famous Chinese cuisine known across the world. Si Chuan cuisine is characterized by its spicy and pungent flavors. Those who love it would be crazy about it. However those who don't like it might even develop hatred against it. Just like in other areas of China, Si Chuan Cuisine is also popular in Shanghai.

Famous Si Chuan Cuisone dishes:

Ma Po Tofu(麻婆豆腐)

Kung Pao Chicken(宫保鸡丁)

Chili Water Boiled Fish(水煮鱼)

Cantonese Cuisine(粤菜)

Cantonese Cuisine is the most versatile cuisine of all the regional cuisines in China. Where the versatility shows most is the material used. An old Cantonese saying: Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies can be cooked and tastes well. Don't worry though, most famous Cantonese dishes are made of regular Chinese cooking materials. Besides those, shark fin, abalone and bird's nest are almost regular materials.

Famous Cantonese cuisine dishes:

Dim Sum(点心)

Roast Suckling Pig(烤乳猪)

SteakHouse

Looking for a steakhouse in Shanghai? Overall, western food is not quite popular in China. Yes, KFC, MC's and Starbucks are like everywhere in Shanghai. But a good steakhouse is not easy to find. If your stay in Shanghai is not short and you start missing the taste of a good steak...

Check here for a guide on steakhouses in Shanghai.

Shanghai Cuisine Restaurants

There are of course numerous Shanghai Cuisine restaurants in Shanghai. Some are popular only among Shanghainese. Some are popular among most Chinese. There is no doubt that not many of them would be liked by western people.

Here is a guide to good Shanghai Cuisine resturants.

Hot Pot(火锅) Restaurants

Hot pot(火锅) is one of the featuring cooking methods of Chinese Cuisine. Due to its long history, many regional styles of Hot Pot have been developed and of course most of them can be found in Shanghai. The only thing common between these styles is the hot soup that is used for cooking food. Everything else could be totally different.

Know about Hot Pot Restaurants before you step into one.