Dim sum & bakery · Shanghai
Shengjianbao
生煎包 — Pan-fried soup buns: fluffy tops, fried dough bottoms, scalding broth inside — the Shanghai breakfast that bites back if you rush it.
Shengjianbao are cooked in oil in a covered pan, dusted with sesame and scallion, and served blistering. The local method is to bite the top, pour or sip the soup, then eat the rest; the danger of a scalded tongue is real and part of the culture.
The old debate is thin-skin (Wujiang Road style) versus thick-skin (Yang’s Fry Dumpling style). Both cost almost nothing by western standards, and a plate of four with a bowl of curry beef soup is the classic Shanghai office-worker breakfast.
Where to eat it
- Yang’s Fry Dumplings (multiple branches)
- Wujiang Road breakfast shops
- Small shallow-pan shops across the Former French Concession
Named tables that do it well
- Taian Table — Michelin 3 Stars
- Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet — Michelin 3 Stars
- Fu He Hui — Michelin 2 Stars
- Canton 8 (Huangpu) — Michelin 2 Stars
Routes that eat their way here
More dishes to know
- Dongpo Pork (东坡肉)
- Cong You Bing (Scallion Pancake) (葱油饼)
- Xiaolongbao (小笼包)
- Cantonese Dim Sum (广式点心)
- Pineapple Bun with Butter (菠萝油)
- Egg Tarts (葡式蛋挞/酥皮蛋挞)