Freshly made qingtuan
From iconic “green fatty” to seasonal desserts and barbecue, restaurants in the city are refreshing their menu for spring!
Here are some highlights and taste spring in your food!
“Green fatty” is the nickname of qingtuan, a green glutinous rice dumpling, which is a traditional snack for the Qingming Festival and is popular in the regions south of the Yangtze River including Shanghai.
Sticky rice flour is dyed with grounded wild vegetable juice, and then shaped into balls.
Sweet bean paste mixed with lard is the most common filling, but there are also creative fillings depending on local tastes. It is only eaten in spring.
Malantou (Indian kalimeris herb) qingtuan
Changfeng (rice noodle rolls) served by Xing Hua Lou
The Xing Hua Lou Restaurant, Shanghai’s oldest Cantonese-style eatery, is one of the most famous venues in the city that serves freshly made qingtuan.
It is the pioneer of the popular “salted egg yolk and pork floss rice dumpling.” There’s always a crowd lining up outside Hua Xing Lou in spring.
To ensure the taste of the rice dumplings, chefs use wheat grass juice, which gives a unique fragrance and a soft, sticky texture. They first stretch the dough in their palms, place the filling in the center, and then slowly seal it into a round shape.
A yam dessert
This year, there are four types of freshly made hot rice dumplings available - cheese black pepper beef, shepherd’s purse and pork, and malantou (Indian kalimeris herb) in addition to the popular salted egg yolk and pork floss.
There are also some pre-packaged rice dumplings with a variety of flavors.
Jumping on the modern bandwagon, the Fuzhou Road and Huanghe Road outlets of Xing Hua Lou have introduced several new spring cuisines and snacks appealing to the younger generation. These include Chinese toon spring rolls and steamed buns, and seasonal desserts like yam flower-shaped dim sum and ginger milk curd with crust.
Tasty qingtuan
Desserts served by Xing Hua Lou
Chinese toon, known as xiangchun in Chinese, is only on sale for a very short time. The fresh leaves of the Toona sinensis tree are a rare treat and only exclusively available in spring time.
There are also a variety of Cantonese-style wanghong (online celebrity) drinks, such as milk tea, mango pomelo sago and lemon tea.
Sunya Cantonese Restaurant on the iconic Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall serves both traditional and innovative flavors of the rice dumplings this year.
The traditional sweet bean paste, salted egg yolk and pork floss, and shepherd’s purse and shrimp are on the menu.
Qingtuan served by Sunya
Yanduxian-stuffed qingtuan is also popular with locals. Yanduxian is a classic Shanghai spring soup made with pork and bamboo shoots.
This year, chefs of the restaurant also innovatively mixed mozzarella cheese with taro paste to make cheese taro rice dumplings.
Currently, cheese taro rice dumplings are supplied in limited quantities every day and are sold out as soon as they are made. Come early if you want to have a try!
A camping dining area at Haidilao’s outlet
Meanwhile, China’s hotpot chain Haidilao has further upgraded the dining experience, offering hot pot music festival, camping and late-night snack vans.
The service is available at some outlets that have camping areas such as the Hangtou outlet in the Pudong New Area, combineing hot pot, markets, and pet-friendly services.
Some of these outlets can accommodate up to 300 diners at a time.
The late-night snack vans feature hot pot, snacks, handmade bubble tea, and barbecue, allowing diners to get immersed in the picturesque spring scenery.
Freshly made qingtuan
Spring desserts