Food: Escape to Shanghai with this new cookbook

This is the feeling that emanates from Betty Liu's debut cookbook, My Shanghai.To get more news about shanghai special dishes, you can visit shine news official website.

The Boston-based photographer, food writer and general surgery resident's family is from Shanghai, her parents moved to Oregon in the US, and Liu grew up Chinese American - later realising how much she needed to know all of her mother's recipes. Some of which she's now sharing with everyone else...
Who will love it? People who long for the food of Shanghai, and those who have never really encountered it before. Totally new to it? Let the variations on spareribs be your gateway recipe, or the pork belly bao, or the steamed fish. Flavour is paramount, so if you're fascinated by how to imbue dinner with as much depth as possible, and are interested in learning how to hand-shape dumplings, Liu will have you entertained for hours. And yes, there's space for you here, even if you're plant-based.

The food Liu grew up eating: home-style, home-cooked food from Shanghai, including the dishes her mum made that Liu, through much questioning, observation and osmosis has, over time, memorised and stored away. There's tradition and dishes specific to a family, but Liu's emphasis is very much on "making the food truly yours". She also takes us through specific Shanghainese food language and cooking techniques, like 'red braising' (soy sauce and sugar is involved), 'stew and smother' and the mesmeric-sounding 'rolling knife'. Liu gives a thorough introduction to the pantry items you'll need too, before unleashing on you dishes like hairy crab tofu, classic tomato and egg stir-fry, and sweet-and-sour lotus root.

There's a lot of variety, so while you could leap right in and make time-intensive but perfectly plump morning pork bao from scratch (pork-stuffed buns eaten for breakfast), sticky rice balls three ways or wind cured salt pork, there are more straightforward options. Liu has a knack for simple but impressive-looking noodle soups and assembly dishes, like a salad of winter melon and edamame, and of course, stir-fries (chicken, bean sprout and garlic chives caught our attention). Get your store cupboard in order first though; tracking down lotus leaves may require forward planning and internet shopping.

You haven't experienced Shanghai until you've had a bowl of scallion [spring onion] oil noodles. It's a quintessential, old Shanghai dish - a humble, yet extremely satisfying, bowl of noodles," explains Liu.

"This dish reveals the secret of that complex umami flavour used in many of Shanghai's signature dishes: scallion oil. Scallions (spring onions) are slowly fried in oil so that their flavour infuses it. This flavoured oil serves as the base of the dish. By itself, the soy sauce-rock sugar mix makes a lovely, deep, sweet yet savoury sauce, but it often needs something else - pork, chicken, eggplant, or loads of scallions - for additional flavour. Dried shrimp is an excellent addition that supplies an extra bit of umami. If you're craving something with more protein, fry some ground pork in your scallion oil until browned and crisp, then turn off the heat and proceed with the recipe.

"You can also make scallion oil ahead of time. Quadruple the recipe below and follow the steps. Let it cool and pour it into a sterile jar; it will keep in the fridge for up to a month. Use it any time, to elevate any dish you're making."

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