Street Food Tour: Shanghai
Watch the video above to see my street food tour in Shanghai, China. It was a very busy day in the bustling city and the streets were full of people. We traversed the famous pedestrian-only Nanjing Road to sample as much as we can from the abundant street food that was on offer.
Each country has its own unique street food culture. In China, this can range from downright dodgy carts in a dark corner serving mystery meat to international franchises of famous eateries.
In this video, there won’t be anything too exotic since we found ourselves in one of the more touristy areas. There’s still a lot of local flair without being too risqué.
I made an effort to find some xiao long bao or “XLB” as some locals call it. This is definitely my favorite Chinese street food. Made internationally famous by the Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung, I still think that the much cheaper street-side soup dumplings of Shanghai are the best. I don’t care what the Michelin guide says.
Since we were eating on the go, there were a lot of skewered items. Mystery meat on a stick is a Chinese street food specialty. We had some tofu, squid balls and an array of skewered items which were hard to identify. Some were steeped in a thin broth while others were cooked on a teppan. On a cold day, I love sipping the broth that they serve in a cup with the skewers.
Sometimes, we had to be creative. Eating street food means you don’t have any tables and chairs. I had to avoid getting run over by scooters and a steady, heavy stream of pedestrians. Any flat surface can be used as a makeshift table or chair.
My latest discovery is the abundance of amazing fresh fruits in the Shanghainese fruit stands. The city has a numerous number of fruit stands and during springtime, strawberries are extremely cheap and yummy! The fruits are large, sweet and juicy! A half kilo box can go for as low as US$3! Amazing!
If you’re looking for something more exotic, check out my post about the street food in Beijing: Bizarre Foods Beijing
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