Shanghai Food
There is not a definite cuisine of Shanghai but there is just a modification of the various food styles all over China like food styles of the surrounding provinces (which are mostly from adjacent Zhejiang and Jiangsu coastal provinces). As a matter of fact crab, fish, chicken and eel are consumed with spirits and are efficiently steamed or cooked or are even served raw. Preserved vegetables and salted meats are also commonly used to serve the recipe.
In cuisine of Shanghai the use of sugar is very common especially when it is used in combination with soy sauce. If you are a non-native then you may encounter difficulty in identifying this correct usage of sugar and you may get surprised when you will be told that there is also the use of a secret ingredient. An excellent example of such cooking is “sour and sweet spare ribs" (in Shanghainese called as "tangcu xiaopai").
Also the most popular stewing style for vegetables and meat is "Red cooking" which is basically associated with Shanghai. A renowned dish of Beijing origin is "Beggar's Chicken" which is known by the name "jiaohua ji" in the Shanghainese dialect. As a matter of fact this dish is covered in clay and wrapped in leaves of lotus. This recipe is cooked in the ovens. In addition to this, ginger and lime flavored thousand-year eggs and stinky tofu are other famous food items of Shanghai.
The sea food of Shanghai is very famous and this place faces the East China Sea. In addition to this; as the location of this place is among lakes, canals and rivers of the Yangtze the dishes are mainly based on sea food. Apart from that the main outstanding food dish is Shanghai hairy crab. The good quality buns from Shanghai like the xiaolong mantou (called as xiaolongbao in Mandarin) and the shengjian mantou are generally about four centimetres in diameter. As the development in Shanghai in the field of cuisine is progressing day by day hence the potential of Shanghai cuisine has become very promising.