Shanghai
Guided tour · 3 hours
Shanghai: 3-Hour Local Food Tasting Tour
Sample 10-15 traditional dishes from Shanghai on a tasting food tour in the former French Concession. Try some of the best dumplings in the city and...
from$68Check dates
History
The dish grew out of Haipai cuisine, the Shanghai adaptation of Western cooking that took shape after the city's treaty port opened, alongside the local versions of Russian borscht and potato salad that together became known as the old three classics. Cooks pound the pork chop thin with the back of a knife to break down the fibres, marinate it in ginger and scallion water, then coat it in breadcrumbs before frying to a crisp golden crust. A related dish, pork chop rice cakes, swaps the breadcrumb crust for a thin batter served over sticky rice cakes, and returned to wider attention after the television drama Blossoms Shanghai in 2023.
Book a food experience
Tours, tastings and classes that match this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.
Portland
Guided tour · 1h 30m
Shanghai Tunnel Underground Tour - with Beer Tasting
Visit the haunted Shanghai Tunnels, underground passages in Portland's Chinatown. Visit the haunted hotel's 2nd floor & ballroom. Finish with special...
from$44Check dates
Kyoto
1h 30m
Ramen Broth Class by Michelin Guide Shop & Custom Chopsticks
There are noodles worldwide, but no true ramen broth. Our chefs teach you how to make real ramen broth at home. Musoshin Ramen runs six shops, and...
from¥12,000Check dates
Osaka
3 hours
Osaka Ramen & Chopsticks Making Experience, Make it. Use it
Create your own chopsticks and make ramen from scratch, kneading flour and crafting noodles by hand. Enjoy handmade ramen with the chopsticks you...
from¥15,000Check dates
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 2 boneless pork chops, about 150g each
- 2cm piece of ginger and 1 spring onion, mixed with 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 100g fine breadcrumbs
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Worcestershire sauce, to serve
Method
- Pound both sides of each pork chop with the back of a knife until the fibres loosen and the meat flattens slightly.
- Marinate the chops in the ginger and scallion water, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and salt for at least 20 minutes.
- Pat the chops dry, then coat first in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs, pressing the crumbs on firmly.
- Heat about 2cm of oil in a wide pan over medium heat until shimmering.
- Fry the chops for about 90 seconds a side until golden, then raise the heat briefly to crisp the crust and drain any excess oil.
- Slice into strips and serve with Worcestershire sauce for dipping or pouring over.
Tip from the editors. Fry at a moderate heat throughout; oil that is too hot will colour the crumbs before the meat inside is cooked through.
Where to eat shanghai fried pork chop (zha zhu pai)
Shanghai fried pork chop (zha zhu pai) in Shanghai
Deda Western Restaurant ★ 3.9
Deda Western Restaurant on West Nanjing Road in Shanghai opened in 1897 in Hongkou and here in 2007, serving the Haipai pork chop, borscht and potato salad.
OrderFried pork chop with Worcestershire-style sauce, borscht, and potato salad, Deda's old three.
TipMost diners are Shanghainese regulars there for nostalgia; the room by the Nanjing Road window doubles as a coffee house with a cake shop.
Er Guang Wonton ★ 3.8
Er Guang Wonton on Huangjiaque Road in Shanghai serves pork wontons in clear broth or dry with sesame sauce, plus a crisp pork chop, from 07:00 until 02:00.
OrderPork and vegetable wontons in broth and the deep-fried pork chop.
TipThe dry wontons dressed in sesame paste or chili oil are worth ordering alongside the soup version.
More cities are in research. Want shanghai fried pork chop (zha zhu pai) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.