Shanghai Cuisine · FFET10066
Shanghai Pear Syrup Candy
The craft of Shanghai pear syrup candy entered the national heritage list in 2021, and its page records a candy shop there in 1855.
A richly sauced eight-treasure duck stuffed with glutinous rice and red dates sits on a plate, a plate beside it holds oil-burst river shrimp, and a dish in the foreground shows bright green clover greens with coils of pork intestine.
The benbang and Haipai cooking of Shanghai, rich and dark-sauced, drawing on flavours from many places.
On the China Intangible Cultural Heritage website, the craft of Shanghai pear syrup candy is listed as a traditional craft declared from Huangpu District, Shanghai, and was added to the fifth batch of the national representative list in 2021. The item page records that in 1855, the fifth year of the Xianfeng reign, the first pear syrup candy shop opened at the Old Town God's Temple in Shanghai. It adds that the candy is boiled from herbs, sugar and pear juice, and that the sugar must be stirred evenly and watched closely so that it is neither overcooked nor underdone.