Native local dishes appeared very early. At the beginning, the consumers faced by operators were very ordinary. Most people who come to eat in this humble shop are vendors, vendors, coolies and other guests. Their dining requirements are not high, and they spend a few small money for convenience. The main purpose is not to eat well, but to eat full. Therefore, the early local dishes were simple and cheap. Obviously, this is determined by the operator's goal orientation and the specific level of consumers.
In the early days, our local dishes included tofu blood soup, 100 page vermicelli soup, 100 page fried leek, braised grass carp slices and so on, as well as simple cold dishes such as peanuts, edamame and pork head for guests to drink. Although these dishes are no longer common, staple food and ordinary home cooking are the right way to meet the needs of specific consumers. Coupled with good management, convenient for customers to call Cai, fast delivery, convenient and cheap eating, it is very popular with ordinary workers.
About 130 years ago, during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a typical couple's shop in Laojiaochang Street, Shanghai, near the west end of Chenghuang Temple. The owner's surname is Zhang, and his hometown is Chuansha, Pudong. He came here to open a small shop. There are only three square tables in the shop. Every day, I cook some popular dishes such as fried pork, bacon tofu and bacon soybean milk for dozens of guests to make a living. Mr. and Mrs. Zhang get up early in the dark and try to make soup and vegetables delicious and cheap. So there are more and more customers in small restaurants, and the business is getting better and better. The boss found someone to give the shop a name called Rongshunge. As a result of good management, the longer the time, the louder the reputation, and the Rongshun Museum will become a household name. After a long time, people call it Lao Rongshun. This time-honored local restaurant is the predecessor of the famous local restaurant Shanghai Old Hotel.
Although this old restaurant is located in a small street, it runs well and pays attention to maintaining the traditional characteristics of popular and home-cooked dishes. Among many old and new colleagues, it is always the most famous. Many small shops and stalls, when operating local dishes, initially only had soup and simple cold pot, and later gradually increased hot cooking. The variety of fancy dishes has also increased accordingly, from ordinary spicy sauce to eight-treasure spicy sauce, from ordinary fried meat to oily hoof. The original old-school local dish braised fish pieces has also begun to be refurbished, adding dishes such as casserole fish head and grass carp tofu. In this respect, the old hotels in Shanghai are leading in this kind of food.
Shanghai Old Hotel was officially named 1964. 1978 moved to the newly-built seven-story building at No.242, Fu You Road, North Head of Chenghuang Temple. The business area of the whole store has been greatly increased, and it can receive six or seven hundred customers for dinner at the same time. Foreign guests who visit Yu Garden (Town God Temple) are happy to go to Shanghai Old Hotel to enjoy the local food customs. Locals who have been abroad for many years or returned to Shanghai after leaving Shanghai to work in other places prefer to go to the old Shanghai hotel to taste the local flavor.
Shanghai Old Hotel is famous for its vivid cooking, which brings together the main local dishes in Shanghai. In the production, we should pay attention to the temperature, taste and cooking, original flavor, and keep the juice full of color, flavor and flavor. The store pays great attention to the characteristics of the dishes, emphasizing the fresh materials and careful selection. Do not take fresh, do not need live, especially fish and shrimp, must be alive and kicking. Herring needs about 3.5 kilograms of live hair, hen needs about 2 kilograms, and eel is soaked and killed alive. To stir-fry the grass head, you need to choose three tender leaves at the top of the grass head, spray koji with seasoning and stir-fry quickly. When the dish is packed, it is jade in color and fresh in population, so the dish is also called "Sanyelai". After tasting all the delicious food, it will be even more light and delicious to taste this dish again.
There are dozens of famous dishes cooked in Shanghai Old Hotel, such as eight-treasure duck, shredded pork, braised mandarin fish, glutinous rice balls, salt and pepper ribs, eight-treasure hot sauce, bad bowls and so on. Babel duck is a kind of plump new duck, and its belly is stuffed with delicious and fragrant ingredients such as Xiang Lian, ham, shrimp, mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, diced meat and glutinous rice. After steaming, the main and auxiliary materials penetrate each other, the duck meat is fresh and tender, and the ingredients are waxy and soft. It's delicious when it's served. Braised abalone is made by changing fire three times, adding water three times and carefully cutting and burning. The marinade is like glue, bright red in color, fresh and tender in fish, oily but not greasy. In the traditional bowl head of fermented glutinous rice, several samples of pig viscera are taken, stored in the bowl head together with aged fragrant glutinous rice, and steamed in a steamer. Glutinous rice is fragrant and delicious.
In addition to the old Shanghai Hotel renamed from Rongshun Pavilion, there is also Dexing Pavilion. Dexing Pavilion is located in the small east gate of Shiliupu, Shanghai, and it is also a century-old shop in Shanghai. It was opened in the 9th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1883). Its original address was Zhenru, and then it was moved to its current address 1958, No.29 Dongmen Road. In the thirties and forties, it was also famous at home and abroad. Most of the chefs in this restaurant are Shanghai natives with decades of experience. Shanghai local cuisine tastes authentic, with juicy and fresh soup. Famous dishes include shrimp and black ginseng, Babao soup, shredded pork and soybean soup, pickled fresh bamboo shoots, fried pork tofu, big fish head and chicken bone sauce. Braised bald lungs, fried rings, etc. Shrimp and black ginseng are housekeeping dishes, and the rise is just right. After cooked with shrimp seeds, it is crisp but not broken, with thick juice and delicious taste, and has the reputation of "the first ginseng in the world". In addition, the specialty of Dexing Museum used to be raw fried grass heads, with garlic paste and red-cut pork intestines at the bottom, which is the grass head circle. This dish is one of the most popular dishes in Shanghai. Not only does it have no odor in its intestines, but it can go home at any time, and it is not expensive at all. Together with the raw grass head, it can be called good color, smell and taste.
In 1930s and 1940s, local restaurants in Shanghai were all the rage. No matter in the market business center or in the remote alley, you can look up and see local gangs and catering gangs (light food) restaurants with font names such as "Xing" and "He". Many local teahouses in Shanghai are characterized by "Old Zheng Xing", such as Jincheng Old Zheng Xing, Shanghai Old Zheng Xing, Rome Old Zheng Xing, Academy Old Zheng Xing and so on. In addition to Dexing Pavilion and Zhengxing Pavilion, the restaurants of Shanghai Benbang and Shanbang also include Zhenxing Pavilion, Qiaxing Pavilion, Hexing Pavilion, Xiexing Pavilion, Shunxing Pavilion and Changxing Pavilion. In addition, with the word "harmony" as the signboard, there are Dehe Pavilion, Renhe Pavilion, Renhe Pavilion, Zhenghe Pavilion, Tonghe Pavilion, Yuanhe Pavilion and Concord Pavilion.
Old Shanghai will also know that there used to be an "Old Hutchison" restaurant on Chua's Road (Shunchang Road). It is also a famous old shop. Two famous shops were very common at that time. One is mainly made of pig brain, and the other is mainly made of pigeons. But after careful cooking by the chef, the dishes are delicious and unique, making people stay fragrant. A dish with pig brain as the main ingredient is called gold and silver brain. Use smoked pig brain and fresh pig brain to remove bloodshot and fine gluten, and then cook with scallops and ginkgo. The scallops are fresh and tender, and the ginkgo biloba is deodorized. It tastes fresh and tender when cooked with slow fire. Pigeons are oiled with pigeons, with rich fragrance and fresh and delicious meat.
The taste of Shanghai local cuisine restaurant is most suitable for Shanghai locals. Our local dishes are boiled chicken and celery mixed with gravy. Stir-fried cauliflower, kidney, shrimp skin, Chinese cabbage, kidney, three fresh vegetables, stir-fried diced meat, hairy bones, bald lung, braised Chinese cabbage, head and tail of herring, braised (hoof bones), Tiger Claw soup, pickled yellow croaker soup, Qingxue soup and salted bean curd soup. Egg soup, shredded pork, soybean soup. Shredded pork and soybean soup and dog Du Xian are the most common soups in Shanghai local restaurants, most of which are thick and greasy. Frequent diners will order a flower egg soup or a red vegetable soup and make it worse, making them feel fresh and delicious. In addition, in our dishes, seemingly simple and easy-to-make seeds are cut into meat, which sometimes has a unique flavor. As for braise in soy sauce, our club mainly braise in soy sauce, the juice is as thick as glue, the color is bright red and the taste is mellow and fresh.
Generally speaking, our dishes are characterized by rich oil, red sauce, wide soup, salty taste and original flavor. As far as cooking methods are concerned, local dishes are mainly braised, fried, simmered and fermented. After absorbing the advantages of tin cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine and Yong cuisine, cooking methods have increased, including stewing, steaming and frying. Braised in oil, fermented Sichuan wine, pickled, fried, etc. The variety of dishes is also rich. For example, bank up stewed grapes can be made from herring according to different parts of herring and different cooking methods. More than twenty different dishes, such as braised paddling, bald chin and lung slices.
In the past, the main service object of this help pavilion was the working people, and the food was cheap. The dishes are also common bacon and tofu, clear soup of soybeans and clear egg soup. After eating, it was only 200 pence when I paid the bill. You should eat better, such as boiled chicken, stewed chicken, fried three delicacies and so on. The amount of food is very rich, and it won't cost much for three or four people to eat.
Nowadays, with the improvement of the management level and the expansion and change of the service scope of local restaurants in Shanghai, the former elegant demeanor has passed away and is almost gone forever. Take Dexing Pavilion as an example. Located in the South Bund, Shiliupu Commercial Center, with three floors and one floor, it is an economic snack, which deals in Shanghai specialty refreshments. There is a banquet ballroom on the second floor, which provides local dishes. There are private rooms on the third floor to arrange high-end banquets. There are 100 kinds of special dishes, such as fried soft-shelled turtle, shark's fin with fire sliding, fried crab claw meat, etc., which are unique to Shanghai. Of course, the price is far from the low price of local food Bofei.