Ranked by TableJourney editorial score.
Eight-treasure duck is a whole boned duck stuffed with sticky rice, chestnuts, mushrooms, ham and other treasures, then steamed for hours until the rice absorbs the duck's juices, a Shanghai celebration centrepiece.
The dish descends from a Qing dynasty precursor recorded as sticky rice duck, which developed around Suzhou in Jiangsu province before becoming part of Shanghai's banquet cooking. The name does not require exactly eight ingredients; fillings vary between chestnuts, ginkgo nuts, diced pork and chicken, mushrooms, ham, bamboo shoots, dried scallops and lotus seeds, and the constant is a whole duck encasing rice that soaks up its juices as it steams. Shanghai Old Restaurant, a guardian of the city's intangible cultural heritage cooking techniques, steams its duck whole for eight hours and serves it the next day once the flavours have settled overnight.
2 editor picks for Eight-treasure duck (ba bao ya) in Shanghai, ranked by editorial score. All Shanghai signature dishes · Eight-treasure duck (ba bao ya) across every city.
Lu Bo Lang at Yu Garden in Shanghai holds a Bib Gourmand for Shanghainese dim sum such as turnip pastry and eyebrow pastry, at fair prices in the Old City.
OrderOrder the Shanghainese dim sum: turnip pastry, osmanthus glutinous rice cake and 'eyebrow' pastry.
TipPrivate rooms on the second and third floors take groups; a 2019 refit added wavy silver ceiling panels to the main room.
Shanghai Old Restaurant by Yuyuan Garden, founded in 1875, guards Shanghai heritage cooking techniques and steams its eight-treasure duck for eight hours.
OrderEight-treasure duck and the red-braised pork belly.
TipThe eight-treasure duck is steamed overnight and served the next day, so reserve it a day ahead.
Eight-treasure duck (ba bao ya) makes more sense with someone from Shanghai explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.
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Maximize your time with the private tour, blending the ancient town of Zhujiajiao and Shanghai's highlights. Explore Zhujiajiao on a boat and visit Shanghai's top site...
