A letter from 27 October 2016

What's for breakfast?

In the old days in Shanghai, the widest array of would be on full display in the morning hours. The most popular types of breakfast were dabing (big flatbreads), (deep-fried dough sticks), doujiang ( milk) and cifan (sticky rice balls with , pickles and salted egg), which the Shanghainese dubbed ‘the four guardian warriors’. In recent years, however, it has become difficult to find such traditional outdoor breakfasts because of the reconstruction of old neighbourhoods, occasional government hygiene crackdowns and the retirement of many an old chef. Now much Shanghai street food has been relocated to indoor malls, and some has been replaced by the likes of Costa Coffee, KFC and Starbucks. However, the street-food culture is still alive; newer specialties such as shengjian, guotie and jianbing guozi are popular among both old and new Shanghainese.

In modern Shanghai, mornings have become very busy, filled with millions of rushing office workers and a growing fast-food culture. Residents here are used to this fast rhythm; working overtime is the norm in certain industries, and many people need to get up early as they live far from the central business district. The subway commute may take 45 minutes to an hour, so most people have no time to cook food in the morning. Therefore, buying breakfast street-side and eating on the way to work is very popular among young white-collar workers.

Baozi, oversized steamed buns stuffed with a variety of fillings such as meat or vegetables, make for a handy, portable meal. This is the most common street food and only costs Rmb1 or 2. Jianbing guozi is another popular choice. Originally from northern cities like and Jinan, it’s essentially a thin pancake topped with egg, green onions, coriander, pickled vegetables and chilli paste, then wrapped around a crispy, deep-fried dough stick. Jianbing guozi’s combination of textures and flavours and its portability make it an enduring part of many Shanghainese diets. It only costs Rmb3 or 4, or Rmb5 to 7 if eaten (as it should be) with soybean milk.

Convenience stores in the subway are also popular for breakfast. These offer sandwiches, tea eggs, rice and vegetable rolls, yoghurt, milk and coffee, and the cost is usually less than Rmb10 or 15. If you buy branded coffee like Starbucks, the cost for breakfast would of course be higher, about Rmb40, but then you look more stylish. The Shanghai subway introduced a rule in 2013 that forbids passengers from eating on trains, so many people now bring their breakfasts in a plastic bag to eat at their desks.

One thing that I appreciate at my office building is that it has a canteen for the people who work there. There are sit-down areas, and various food options are offered in the morning, including my favourite: youtiao, a sort of long doughnut that’s usually dipped in soybean milk as it is eaten. There are also shengjian and guotie, two variations of the classic fried, puffy, pork-filled dumplings. Then there’s douhua, a tofu pudding sprinkled with spring onions, seaweed, dried shrimp, chilli oil and soy sauce, as well as mall wonton, hot noodles and various flavoured congees (savoury rice pudding). Eating in the canteen usually costs me Rmb4–8.

Although eating outside is very common in Shanghai, more traditional people still prefer breakfast at home, especially if they live with their parents and children. Home-cooked breakfasts can include congee, noodles, wonton, boiled eggs, sandwiches and egg-fried rice. Homemade food is often healthier and has an average cost per person of around Rmb5–10. Breakfast is normally a quick meal on a Shanghainese table, but there are still those who take it very seriously, requiring, besides eggs and vegetables, that it should have one main course like fish, shrimp or meat, to be eaten with a pot of coffee.

Anna Liu www.odfund.com