Shanghai Cuisine · FFET10067
Shanghai Hecai Set Meal
The Qingbai Leichao records that hecai suited a small gathering in Shanghai, set out as four plates, four small bowls and two large bowls.
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.
The entry on hecai for a small meal in the Qingbai Leichao, published in 1916, says that hecai was what suited Shanghai and gives its layout as four plates, four small bowls and two large bowls. Another entry, on the eating of Shanghai people, says that Shanghai had many shops and every kind of food and drink was to be had.