Benbang cuisine: the classic Shanghainese dishes and what goes into them

The short answer. Benbang cai (本帮菜, běnbāng cài) is Shanghai’s own home-style cooking: dark, glossy, sweet-savoury dishes braised in soy sauce, sugar and rice wine. Order red-braised pork, “smoked” fish, oil-fried river shrimp and a seasonal vegetable, and you have the classic table. Expect alcohol in the marinades and pork in many stocks, and ask if either is a problem for you.

What makes it benbang?

Benbang means “local”. China’s national heritage list, which added the benbang cooking technique in 2014, sums up the style in four characters: nong you chi jiang (浓油赤酱), “thick oil, red sauce”. In practice that means:

Red-braising (红烧, hóngshāo): slow cooking in soy sauce and sugar until the sauce turns thick and shiny. The heritage listing notes that a good benbang braise gets its gloss without starch.
Wine-lees marinating (糟, zāo): cold dishes soaked in the lees left from rice-wine brewing, plus aged rice wine.
Sweet with salty. Sugar is in most savoury dishes.

The heritage listing names the Shanghai Lao Fandian (上海老饭店), an old restaurant near Yu Garden, as the unit that keeps the technique.

The dishes

Red-braised pork 红烧肉 (hóngshāo ròu)

Cubes of skin-on pork belly braised for a long time with soy sauce, rock sugar, cooking wine, ginger and spices. Some cooks add quail eggs. It is the dish most people mean by “Shanghai food”.

Contains: pork, soy (and wheat in the soy sauce), sugar, alcohol in the cooking.

“Smoked” fish 熏鱼 (xūnyú)

Despite the name, it isn’t smoked. Slices of freshwater fish are marinated, deep-fried, then soaked in a hot sweet soy-and-spice sauce, and served cold as a starter. An older name for it is 爆鱼 (bàoyú).

Contains: fish (with bones), soy, sugar, alcohol in the marinade.

Oil-fried river shrimp 油爆虾 (yóubào xiā)

Small freshwater shrimp fried fast in very hot oil, shells on, then tossed in a glaze of soy, sugar and wine. People eat them shell and all, or suck out the meat.

Contains: shellfish, soy, sugar, alcohol.

Drunken chicken 醉鸡 (zuìjī) and lees dishes 糟货 (zāohuò)

Cold, poached chicken soaked in rice wine; or a platter of cold meats, edamame and offal soaked in wine lees. Both are served cold, so the alcohol stays in.

Contains: alcohol. Skip them if you avoid alcohol for any reason, including faith or pregnancy.

Eight-treasure duck 八宝鸭 (bābǎo yā)

A whole boned duck stuffed with glutinous rice and “eight treasures”, which typically include ham, chicken, pork, shrimp, bamboo shoot, chestnuts, ginkgo nuts and mushrooms. It is a banquet dish and often has to be ordered ahead.

Contains: pork (ham), shellfish (shrimp), poultry, soy, alcohol in the sauce.

Yanduxian 腌笃鲜 (yān dǔ xiān)

The name means “salted, slow-simmered, fresh”. It is a spring soup of cured pork belly with fresh pork or ribs, spring bamboo shoots and knots of tofu skin. It is a spring dish, made when the new bamboo shoots come in.

Contains: pork, soy (tofu skin). No pork-free version.

Crab-meat dishes 蟹粉 (xièfěn)

In autumn, picked hairy-crab meat and roe go into tofu, noodles, dumplings and lion’s-head meatballs. Wikipedia’s article on Shanghai cuisine notes the crab meat is often cooked with lard. See Hairy crab in Shanghai.

Contains: shellfish, often pork fat.

Vegetable dishes

Kaofu 烤麸 (kǎofū): spongy wheat-gluten pieces braised sweet, often with mushrooms, wood-ear fungus and peanuts. Vegetarian, but it is pure wheat gluten.
Seasonal greens: stir-fried pea shoots, bok choy or caotou (草头, cǎotóu, bur clover, a spring green often cooked with a splash of spirit). Ask for no lard.

Ordering for a group

Benbang meals are shared. A table of four might order one braised meat, one fish or shrimp, one cold starter, one tofu or vegetable dish and one soup, with rice. Portions are generous.

Hidden ingredients to ask about

If you avoid…	Ask about	Say
Alcohol	Cooking wine, lees, “drunken” dishes	不要放料酒 (bú yào fàng liàojiǔ, “no cooking wine”)
Pork	Stock, ham, lard	有没有猪肉或猪油？(Yǒu méiyǒu zhūròu huò zhūyóu? “Any pork or lard?”)
Sugar	Almost every braise	少放糖 (shǎo fàng táng, “less sugar”)
Wheat	Soy sauce, kaofu	有没有小麦？(Yǒu méiyǒu xiǎomài? “Any wheat?”)

A braise is cooked in one pot, so it often can’t be changed. Pick a dish that suits you rather than asking for a big change. For a full card in Chinese, use the dietary card tool.