Speaking of Shanghai’s food, I think many friends must be quite impressed by Shanghai pancakes. The crispy outer skin, delicious meat filling and sweet soup make this classic Shanghai snack not only It is deeply loved by local diners and also by foodie friends from all over the country.

Then Brother Mao suddenly has a question here. Everyone says that Shanghai’s fried dumplings are delicious. Do you know what authentic Shanghai fried dumplings are like? Many friends may say that they don’t know why. Aren’t all the fried dumplings sold across the country the same? The fried dumplings downstairs in my house are both raw fried dumplings and the fried dumplings in Shanghai, so there shouldn’t be any difference!

That may not be what you think! Let Brother Mao take you to re-understand the real Shanghai pancakes!

Schools of Shengjian

In terms of broad categories, Shanghai’s Shengjian is divided into two major schools. The first is the "Clear Water School" and the other is the "Muddy Water School". group".

Qingshui-style Shengjian

Let’s talk about Qingshui-style Shengjian first. Qingshui-style Shengjian is the most orthodox and authentic style of old Shanghai Shengjian. Remember its characteristics: close the mouth. Face up, the skin is made from whole or semi-risen dough. The skin is slightly thicker, the meat filling is firm and tender, and the soup is relatively small.

Clearly seal it upward

How about it? Is it different from the fried pancakes you usually eat? That's right, the traditional old Shanghai pancake is just like this Qingshui pancake. It doesn't burst with juice in one bite. The Qingshui pancake is made from yeast dough, and the more you chew it, the more delicious it becomes, especially the crispy bottom. The crispy texture it brings is very enjoyable even if you just eat the skin.

The fried skin of Qingshui pie is not only for eating meat fillings, but the fried skin with strong burnt aroma is also particularly delicious.

Then look at the meat fillings. The fried meat fillings do not contain pork rinds, so there will be less soup. These soups are also the meat juices of the pork fillings themselves, which are particularly pure and delicious. It's greasy, but tastes particularly refreshing and delicious.

The dough is made from dough, and the meat filling is strong

The meat fillings of Qingshui Pai Shengjian are all a ball of firm and elastic pork filling, which is particularly fragrant and tastes good. .

The meat filling does not pay attention to the amount of soup

Then why is the Qingshui pie with the dough and less soup the most traditional Shanghai pancake? Because the delicacy of pan-fried pancakes was first sold in teahouses in Shanghai, as a snack for guests to drink tea. Since it is a tea snack, it naturally has to be made slightly drier and more fragrant to go with tea. From the time-honored brand of Qingshui Pai You can know it from the store name of "Da Hu Chun".

At present, the shops that make clear water pie pancakes in Shanghai are mainly the time-honored ones Dahuchun and Dongtaixiang. The newer ones have Kou San Kee. There is also Luo Chunge, which was very popular in the early years, but unfortunately it is no longer done. Although there are not so many restaurants making old-style pan-fried pancakes nowadays, the most traditional taste of Shanghai pan-fried pancakes is still loved by diners.

Muddy Water Pie Sheng Jian

After talking about Qing Shui Pie Sheng Jian, let’s talk about the relatively mainstream Muddy Water Pie. What are the characteristics of Muddy Water Pie Sheng Jian? Here it comes: with the mouth facing down, the unleavened dough is used to make the skin, the skin is thin, and the meat filling has more soup.

Muddy Water Pie with the mouth facing down

One of the biggest features of Muddy Water Pie is the rich soup. Many friends like to eat it because they like this kind of soup. It feels like the soup is really delicious when it comes out of the pot. Do you know where this soup comes from? This is because the meat jelly is added when making the stuffing, and the meat jelly turns into this delicious soup under high temperature.

Muddy Water Pan-fried Pancakes with full soup

In addition to the soup, the biggest difference in texture between Muddy Water Pan-fried Pancakes and Qing Shui Pan Pancakes is the pan-fried skin, which is made from unfermented noodles. The skin of Muddy Water Jian is very thin, so when you eat it, you should pay attention to thin skin and more soup. Although it is a bit less chewy and fragrant than Qing Shui Jian, it still goes well with its characteristics of more soup.

Thin-skinned Muddy Water Pancakes

Although the soup is delicious and the skin is thin and filled with fillings, the biggest problem with Muddy Waters Pan-fried Pancakes is that they must be eaten hot to taste. Once they are cold, If you eat it again, the soup will become very greasy, and the thin skin will become soft and sticky, losing its deliciousness.

Currently, there are quite a few Muddy Waters Shengjian restaurants in Shanghai, including Maoge, which has mixed reviews and criticisms. Not to mention a certain Yang, some are famous in the neighborhood such as Xiaoyan Shengjian and Shafu Shengjian. There are also older restaurants like Dafugui Restaurant that use the muddy water method.

In general, the emergence and popularity of Muddy Water Pan-fried Pancake shows that the public’s tastes are slowly changing. The traditional Clear Water Pan-fried Pancake is still loved by the public, and Muddy Water Pan-fried Pancake also has diners who like it. Fans, Brother Mao believes that no matter which genre, as long as the food itself is made authentically and deliciously, there will be diners and friends who like it.

Okay, today’s Brother Mao’s food program ends here. Brother Mao is going on the road to find delicious food again!

Finally, after listening to today’s story about raw pancakes, Brother Mao still wants to do a small vote. Which one do you think best represents Shanghai’s pancakes, clear water pancakes or muddy pancake pancakes? Choose your answer!