Glitzy IAPM Mall on Shanghai’s Huai Hai Zhonglu, one of the city’s two main shopping arterials, seems a strange place to start to delve into the city’s food culture. But as Lost Plate helps you discover, shadowing it a couple of blocks either side are hidden local eateries. Shanghai for the late Anthony Bourdain meant two culinary obsessions, namely soup dumplings (xiaolongbao) and noodles. Unfortunately the famous Nanxiang version featured in Parts Unknown has succumbed to the tourist hordes. Instead Lost Plate takes you to a shop off Changle lu.

Behind a glass window a young chef dexterously wraps pork dumplings. “There are three important things with xiaolongbao. First the size – they should be bite size. Then there is the delicacy a good one has 20 pleats whereas many street vendor versions only have 10. Thirdly the soup should be light coloured. If it is dark they have added soy sauce and sugar because they are not confident of the taste” says Nick Zhang, guide and manager Lost Plate, Shanghai.

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