Tabletop traditions

Shanghainese cuisine

Chef Zhu Haifeng will not return to his hometown to celebrate Spring Festival with his family for the second consecutive year since he opened his Shanghainese-cuisine restaurant, Wulixiang, in the capital.

"We traditionally make egg dumplings in Shanghai," Zhu says.

"We hold raw egg in spoons and heat it while adding meat fillings. The most-fun part is folding it with your hand while holding it on the spoon."

The main dish is quanjiafu, which translates as whole family portrait. It's a stew of such ingredients as fish, chicken, pork and vegetables.

"The soup ... is really tasty because it has so many ingredients," Zhu says.

"We also put egg dumplings on top."

Traditionally, cold dishes are eaten before hot dishes during the Lunar New Year's Eve dinner. The stew is served last.

Zhu says the sixi (four-festive-ingredients) baked bran is the most common cold dish on every Shanghainese table.

"It's interesting that every family has its own sixi baked bran recipe and believes theirs is the most delicious," he says.

His version uses black fungus, mushrooms, day lilies and bamboo shoots.

"Eight-treasure" rice pudding is another indispensable Shanghainese dish.

Zhu has designed a family-dinner menu that adds a bit of modernity to the traditional annual feast.