National Geographic Traveller

IMAGES: GETTY; DIN TAI FUNG

Shanghai souvenirs

Bring back a bottle of aged Shaoxing wine

(for both drinking and cooking) and look out

for jars of pickled vegetables such as xue cai,

a salted mustard green that’s one of the

staple ingredients of local fare. Browse the

food shops on Nanjing Lu or Huaihai Lu for

all manner of ingredients and, if you’re

interested in knives, check out the cleavers

at Zhang Xiao Quan in Nanjing Lu.

FUCHSIA DUNLOP

is a writer who trained as a

chef at the Sichuan Institute of

Higher Cuisine. She has authored

fi ve books, including Land of Fish

and Rice: Recipes from the

Culinary Heart of China

(Bloomsbury, 2016).

fuchsiadunlop.com

@fuchsiadunlop

Dumplings & delicacies

Don’t miss steamed soup

dumplings with their tidy pleats

and juicy stu€ ngs: head to

the tiny Jia Jia Tang Bao for an

authentic local experience or bag

a table at Din Tai Fung if you’d rather

take your time. Alternatively, book a

private room at Fu 1088 and order steamed

river shad or braised Shanghai cabbage with

tofu and salted pork (recipe below).

Method

Cover the pork belly (plus skin) with water and

boil for fi ve minutes. Drain, cool and cut the

meat into 3cm cubes. Heat the oil over a high

fl ame, add the ginger, spring onion, star anise

and cassia bark and stir-fry until fragrant. Add

the pork and continue frying until the meat

is tinged gold. Add the wine, light soy sauce,

dark soy sauce, white sugar and the stock.

Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for

45 minutes. Discard the whole spices and turn

up the heat to reduce the sauce to a rich, dark

gravy. Serve with plain white rice.

MAKE IT AT HOME

Shanghai red-braised pork

Award-winning food writer Fuchsia Dunlop

takes a fascinating culinary journey

through China’s Lower Yangtze region

Eat shoots & leaves

Shanghainese cuisine is a cocktail of

infl uences from the Jiangnan region, pepped

up with a shot of European fl avours. The city

is best known for its dumplings and red-

braised dishes; less widely recognised are its

refreshing soups and healthy vegetable dishes.

Local chefs draw on seasonal ingredients

— including bamboo, leafy greens and

shrimps — and add fl avour with cured Jinhua

ham, dried seafood and other preserves.

is a writer who trained as a

chef at the Sichuan Institute of

Higher Cuisine. She has authored

Land of Fish

a taste of

CHINA

Steamed pork

xiaolongbao, Din Tai

Fung restaurant

BELOW: Fried

rice with egg and

shrimp, Din Tai

Fung restaurant

Try typical Shanghainese fare at Old Jesse:

stir-fried shepherd’s purse (a fl owering plant)

Ingredients

1kg pork belly

1tbsp cooking oil

20g fresh ginger

1 white spring onion

1 star anise

1 piece cassia bark

3tbsp Shaoxing wine

1.5tbsp light soy sauce

1.5tbsp dark soy sauce

2.5tbsp white sugar

500ml pork or

chicken stock

November 2016 31

FOOD // SMART TRAVELLER