Shanghai Street Food – 8 Dishes to try in Shanghai

The most famous steam bun in Shanghai is the Nanxiang steamed bun. Like just about everything in China, this iconic steam bun has a history spanning a hundred years. The bun’s skin is very thin, and the filling is made with lean pork meat, pork jelly, ground sesame, bamboo shreds and shrimps. So delicate is the outer skin of the bun that it’s said to have at least 14 layers of folded bread, and the flour used for 10 buns weighs just 100 grams. Virtually transparent, small and delicate, these delightful buns are juicy with each bite.

As with most of China, Shanghai street food wouldn’t be considered complete without a mention of these flavor (and nutrient) rich broth laden tasty morsels. Soup buns are in fact a kind of dumpling that is filled both with soup (broth) and seasoned pork filling. Eating these buns requires the help of a straw – first to ‘drink’ the broth inside the dumplings, then leaving you free to devour the bun in its entirety.

Yes, it’s another pork bun found among Shanghai street food! While the tasty, moist pork filling is similar to others we’ve mentioned and is wrapped with dough, these delicious dumplings are pan-fried, making them part soft, part crispy. Try eating just one – we don’t know anyone who has!

Shanghai Shumai, more commonly known as pork shumai, is a very common breakfast Shanghai street food. It’s different from the ubiquitous dim sum shumai, which is made with pork and shrimp. Shanghai Shumai is filled with sticky rice and pork. Why not skip the hotel breakfast and get amongst the local Shanghai residents making their way to work and play?

There are few amongst us who don’t love fried rice, but what about a fried rice roll? Sound too good to be true? Well, it’s not. A fried rice roll is one of the four breakfast warriors famous in Shanghai. It’s a sticky rice ball filled with Chinese fried dough (You Tiao), pork sung, and pickled vegetable.  We recommend starting at least one day on a Shanghai tour with this famous Shanghai street food.

Crab shell cake is a type of shortbread baked from fermented flour with oil, sesame seeds and salty or sweet fillings. The name comes from its yellow/brown color, which resembles a cooked crab shell. There are many filling options so there’s no need to feel limited: spring onion, pork, crab meat, shrimp, sugar, rose petals, bean paste and jujube paste. The cake is crispy with a sesame flavor.  Delicious!

Wonton soups are found all over China and Shanghai is no different. The wontons in Shanghai’s wonton soup are filled with freshly minced pork. Just prior to serving, the wonton soup is added with three fresh delicacies – egg pancake slices, dried small shrimps and dried laver (dried seaweed).

Perhaps not a breakfast food, but certainly worth a sample at some time while taking in the streets and sights of Shanghai, this dish has tiny glutinous rice balls or dumplings boiled in a sweet rice wine recognized as Chinese yeast fermented glutinous rice. Low in alcohol content and sweet tasting, with the additional flavor of goji berries or Osmanthus added, this is a Shanghai street food dish to indulge in.