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According to a traditional proverb, food is always first and foremost in people's lives.
Chefs from 25 rural restaurants, tourism sites and B&Bs, were honored on Sunday in outskirts Qingpu District for their cuisines.
The award-winning cuisines, including hot dishes, cold dishes, soup, staple food as well as pastry, are all made from the locally-grown ingredients.
The competition was carried out both online and offline, and lasted for more than a month. Local residents voted for their favorite cuisines online. There were more than 100 dishes provided by 25 food companies from all over the city.
They competed without spared effort for their self-created Shanghai-style folk cuisines, such as special-made hongshaorou, or red cooked pork, goose meat and chicken soup.
A chef was honored with a certificate for his Shanghai-style folk cuisine at Sunday's award ceremony.
The special-made hongshaorou, red cooked pork, cooked with a local special vegetable, malantou, a kind of vegetable with a herb-like taste and flavor
The special-made hongshaorou, was cooked by chef from Shuyuanrenjia restaurant in the Pudong New Area, with a local special vegetable, malantou, a kind of vegetable with a herb-like taste and flavor, and thick sauce, adding new flavor to the traditional dish.
It was the most popular dish.
Goose meat, from Jiading District's Yunongzhuanyuan, stewed with pickled radish, ranked second.
Goose stewed with pickled raddish.
Dragon fruit fried rice
New types of dishes were also welcomed by locals, such as the fried rice with dragon fruit – the sour-sweet fruit fried with local-grown rice, bringing out the best in each other.
Shanghai cuisine is a distinct Chinese cuisine type, commonly known as benbangcai, or authentic Shanghai cuisine, which features the original flavors of raw ingredients and is slightly sweeter than other kinds of Chinese dishes.
A chef makes the Yexie steamed rice cake, a traditional Songjiang pastry, which is listed as a Shanghai intangible cultural heritage.
"The folk cuisine competition is good for promoting the integration of rural food culture and countryside tourism," said Ye Junping, an official with Shanghai Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee.
"It is a good way to invite people who live in urban places to take a tour of the countryside, taste local folk dishes, and experience the unique 'Shanghai-style' rural culture."
A chef presents a dish.
