Food and Drink - Explore Shanghai - page 31

and, sometimes, luxurious crab roe. The best places to sample xiaolongbao are at Din Tai
Fung and Nan Xiang, while Yang's Fry Dumplings sizzles up the finest potstickers.
Breakfast is almost always eaten on the run, with youtiao , a long fried doughnut (or
cruller), washed down with freshly brewed soybean milk, a local favourite. For the Shang-
hainese version of a breakfast burrito, try a jianbing pancake filled with fried egg, a crispy
bean curd sheet, coriander and chilli sauce, cooked on a steaming griddle and rolled up for
takeaway. Steamed baozi bread rolls are also eaten from big bamboo steamers, with a
choice of fillings including pork, vegetables or sweet red bean paste.
Snacks and street food are available on virtually every corner in Shanghai, but the best
selection can be found at Yu Garden Bazaar, where hordes of Chinese tourists patiently wait
in line to sample the treats on offer. As well as those mentioned above, you can't miss the
stench of another local favourite - chou doufu , or smelly bean curd. These little deep-fried
cubes of fermented bean curd from Fenxian County on the outskirts of Shanghai are a some-
what acquired taste, but locals love their pungent flavour, especially when dipped in chilli
sauce.