Yang's Dumplings: Shengjian Pork Buns, Crisp-Bottomed

Shengjian (生煎, shēngjiān) is the bun Shanghai eats for breakfast: a yeasted dough parcel filled with pork and jellied stock, packed into a heavy iron pan, fried until the base is deep brown and lacquered, then steamed under a lid so the top stays pillowy. Sesame seeds and chopped scallion go on at the end. When you bite one, hot soup comes out — reliably, and with force.

Yang's Dumplings (小杨生煎, Xiǎo Yáng Shēngjiān) started as a stall on Wujiang Road in 1994 and now has branches across the city. Chain status has not ruined it: the pans are still visible from the counter, the buns are cooked to order in batches, and four cost ¥12-18 ($1.70-2.50), making it the cheapest genuinely good meal in central Shanghai.

Order the classic pork. The shrimp version at ¥25 ($3.50) is fine, the crab one is a gimmick. Pair with curry beef soup (咖喙牛肉汤) or a bowl of hot-and-sour soup for ¥12 ($1.70) and you have breakfast for two dollars fifty.

Two honest notes: the seating is plastic-stool functional and the queues at the Wujiang Road and Huanghe Road branches run 10-15 minutes at peak breakfast and lunch. Neither matters much when the total transaction takes twenty minutes. Locals eat these standing up on the way to work, and copying them is entirely acceptable.