Shanghai cuisine is also called local cuisine. At the beginning of the 20th century, Shanghai brought together 16 local flavors from Su, Xi, Ning, and Hui. Shanghainese called them Subang cuisine and Huibang cuisine, while the local flavors were called Benbang cuisine.
When the local cuisine was born, it was not elegant, and its characteristic was that it was popular. The local cuisine at that time mainly used local fish, shrimp and vegetables, and was famous for braised, steamed, simmered, fried, minced, and stir-fried raw. The dishes were rich in oil and red sauce, salty and light in taste. Later, Shanghai cuisine continued to absorb the advantages of foreign cuisine, especially Suxi cuisine. In the middle of the 20th century, it formed the characteristics of fresh ingredients, numerous varieties, and moderate taste. Many local restaurants created specialty dishes and cultivated a number of The famous chefs of our cuisine have greatly improved the taste of our cuisine.
Our dishes are rich in color and flavor, and the marinade penetrates into the inside of the dishes, which is particularly delicious, but they are also light, elegant, tender and beautiful. Among our famous dishes, the ones with rich red sauce include pot-roasted river eel, braised rings, bergamot belly, braised water, hairy crab with oil sauce, etc.; the light and elegant ones are recommended for summer and autumn, such as rotten chicken and rotten pig feet. , Zaomengqiang, Zao edamame, Zao wild rice, etc.; while shepherd's purse spring bamboo shoots, crystal shrimps, rock sugar turtle, hibiscus chicken slices, etc. are famous for their freshness and lightness; the three shreds are cut into thin strips with ham, chicken breast, and pork, and are famous for their knife skills. Beautiful shape.
The development and evolution of local cuisine has a close relationship with the economy and culture of various places: the development of Shandong cuisine is related to the Confucius family, the development of Anhui cuisine is related to Hui merchants, and in modern Shanghai, due to industrial and commercial entrepreneurs , The concentration of cultural figures and frequent internal and external exchanges have made Shanghai's food culture widely accepted and gradually become the intersection of domestic and foreign food culture.
Shanghai cuisine now has two meanings. In the narrow sense, Shanghai cuisine is called local cuisine, and in the broad sense, Shanghai cuisine is a comprehensive and extensive cuisine based on local cuisine and absorbing the strengths of various schools. Shanghai was the first city to open a port after China was invaded by colonial forces. In the long process of development, it gradually formed a unique Shanghai-style culture that integrates the East and the West and is inclusive. The tastes of Shanghainese, who are open to all kinds of rivers, are also Shanghai-style. Shanghai cuisine in the traditional sense has long been unable to adapt to the development of Shanghai: I want to eat a little spicy, but I can’t eat the spiciness of authentic Sichuan cuisine; eating too much black pepper steak will make you tired, but in local cuisine Add a little black pepper seasoning to give it a unique flavor, and so on. Traditional Shanghainese cuisine only uses single seasonings such as soy sauce, salt, and MSG, while modern Shanghainese cuisine not only borrows black pepper and butter from Western food, red peppers from Sichuan, and cumin from Xinjiang, but also uses a variety of compound seasonings, which makes Shanghai The dishes have more novel flavors. In fact, the essence of Shanghai-style cuisine lies in being inclusive and seeking development through improvement. The new Shanghai cuisine is not local cuisine in the traditional sense. It is based on mature local cuisine, widely absorbing local flavors at home and abroad, and improving and developing it to form a unique Shanghai style cuisine. Shanghai is an immigrant city with a large population and a variety of tastes. The new Shanghai cuisine will inevitably adapt to this characteristic.