The Two Schools of Shanghai's Pan-Fried Bun

Every guide to Shanghai tells you to eat shengjian bao — the pan-fried pork bun. Almost none of them tell you there are two completely different versions of it, made fifty metres apart, by people who disagree with each other.

That's why you'll find one-star reviews from travellers saying a famous Shanghai bun shop "had no soup inside". There was never supposed to be. They ordered the wrong school.

School one: soup-filled

This is the version you've probably seen on video. The pork filling is mixed with aspic — solidified broth — which melts into liquid while the bun fries. Bite in and it gushes.

On the list

小杨生煎（黄河路店）

Yang's Fry Dumpling (Huanghe Road)

¥27 per person · 06:30-22:30 · 97 Huanghe Road, 1-3 floors, Huangpu District (near Fengyang Road), Shanghai

The "soup-filled" school — aspic mixed into the pork filling bursts when you bite. First-timers: take a small bite first or you'll wear the soup. Locals pair it with hot-and-sour soup or beef soup.

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The technique matters more than the bun. Take a small bite from the top, sip the soup out, then eat the rest dipped in black vinegar. Biting straight into a whole one is how people burn their chins and stain their shirts — the soup inside is genuinely hot enough to hurt.

This style is louder and more photogenic, which is why it's the one that travelled. It's also, to a certain kind of Shanghainese person, the newcomer.

School two: dry-style

The old Shanghai version has no added aspic. What you get instead is a thick, deeply browned, almost cracker-like bottom and a filling that stays where it's put. Less drama, more crust, more pork flavour — because nothing is diluted by liquid.

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大壶春

Da Hu Chun

¥18 per person · 07:30-19:30 · 89 South Yunnan Road, Huangpu District (near East Jinling Road), Shanghai

Shanghai's "dry-style" shengjian bao house — no aspic in the filling, so less soup but a deeply crisp bottom. The local order is 「二两鲜肉生煎」 (100g pork buns) with a bowl of curry beef soup.

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This shop has been making them this way since the 1930s, on a food street that has been a food street about as long. The local order is 二两鲜肉生煎 — 100g of pork buns, which comes to about four — with 咖喱牛肉汤 (curry beef soup) alongside to do the job the missing broth would have done.

The dry school's whole argument: if you want soup with your bun, order soup. Putting it inside costs you the crust.

So which one is correct?

Both, and that's the actual answer — but if you only eat one, think about what you want from it:

• Want the theatrical version, scalding broth, the thing you'll film? Soup-filled.
• Want the older, crustier, more pork-forward one that old Shanghai defends? Dry-style.
• Have two mornings? Eat both, in that order. Soup first, then dry, so the second one doesn't feel like a disappointment.

What you shouldn't do is judge one by the other's rules. A dry bun is not a failed soup bun, and a soup bun is not a gimmick.

The third bun, so you stop confusing them

Then there's xiaolongbao — the steamed soup dumpling, eaten from a bamboo steamer with chopsticks, delicate enough that you lift it by the pinched top and lower it onto a spoon. Different cooking method, much thinner skin, no fried bottom.

On the list

南翔馒头店

Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant

¥60 per person · 07:30-20:30 · 87 Yuyuan Road, Huangpu District (inside Yuyuan Garden Mall), Shanghai

Two dining areas share the building: the ground-floor takeaway counter (cheap, standing, locals queue here) and the upstairs restaurant (3-5x pricier, service charge, mostly tourists). On a budget or want the authentic one? Stay downstairs.

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Shanghai's most famous xiaolongbao house has two operations under one roof: a ground-floor takeaway counter where locals queue, and an upstairs sit-down restaurant that costs several times more for essentially the same dumplings plus a service charge. If you want the local version, stay downstairs.

Ordering, in both schools

• Buns are sold by weight, not by count. Order 二两 (100g) for one person — about four buns — and 四两 if you're sharing.
• 鲜肉 means pork. 虾肉 means shrimp. 蟹粉 is crab roe, seasonal and pricier.
• Order a soup alongside. 咖喱牛肉汤 (curry beef soup) or 酸辣汤 (hot and sour soup) are the two standard partners.
• Black vinegar is on the table, self-service. Pour a little into the dish and dip.
• Pay first at the counter in most shops, then take your receipt to the food window. If you're unsure, watch what the person in front of you does for ten seconds.

What it costs

Shengjian bao is cheap food and has stayed cheap food. Two people eating well — buns, soup, maybe a second order — should get out for under ¥60 total. Dry-style is marginally cheaper than soup-style. If a place near a tourist sight quotes you ¥80 for one portion of buns, walk one block away from the sight.