Yanduxian
腌笃鲜 · Yān Dǔ Xiān
🌶
📍 Common
Yanduxian is Shanghai's ultimate spring tonic. The name means 'slow-simmered cured and fresh' — referring to the combination of cured pork belly (or ham), fresh pork ribs, and young bamboo shoots, all simmered together for hours with tofu skin knots (baijie) and sometimes green soybeans. The soup is milky-white, intensely savory, and carries the unmistakable freshness of spring bamboo. It's not a soup you eat — it's a soup you savor.
📖 History
This Jiangnan (south of the Yangtze) classic dates back centuries. It was originally a way to stretch expensive cured meat using abundant spring bamboo shoots.
🍝 Where to eat it:
Most Shanghainese restaurants serve it in spring. Jin Xuan (金轩) and Fu 1088 (福1088) offer excellent versions.
Most Shanghainese restaurants serve it in spring. Jin Xuan (金轩) and Fu 1088 (福1088) offer excellent versions.