What is Shanghainese? Meet the chef changing the narrative of Chinese food in Canberra

Posted on 23 July, 2024

When you think of what you order at a Chinese restaurant, what comes to mind?

Is it your favourite chow mein? Perhaps a plate of pan-fried dumplings? How about roast duck?

If these made you hungry, chances are what you actually order is Cantonese food, which rose to prominence in Australia due to migration trends to become our dominant Chinese cuisine.

But as many of us now know, there’s a lot more to Chinese cuisine than these classic dishes – and one Canberra chef wants everyone to discover this for themselves.

“In China we have four distinct cuisines” explains Sean Xing, the Shanghai-born Executive Chef at Pop Chinese city restaurant natural nine. “Sichuan, Jiangsu, Shandong and Cantonese.”

While natural nine may have leaned more towards Cantonese cuisine when it opened in 2016, with Sean now heading up the kitchen, the menu is also filled with Shanghainese delights, a unique cuisine Sean describes as a delicate blend of sour, sweet and salty –typical of the Jiangsu region, without the spice and heat many people associate with Chinese dishes.

Currently on the menu are dishes like steamed dory fillet with ginger and soy, twice-cooked braised pork belly with bao, black XO prawns with scallop and squid and fresh mushroom mei fun, although Sean notes the menu is constantly evolving with the seasons.

Naturally, many Cantonese dishes have remained on the menu due to natural nine’s dedicated fanbase of Chinese-born Australians and tourists seeking an authentic taste of home, but Sean is happy that his Shanghainese dishes, especially the rotating menu of specials, have found their place.

“We have a lot of customers who come in and just ask for the specials without even seeing the menu,” says Sean. “They trust us to serve traditional dishes you can’t find elsewhere.”

Of course, this trust has been hard earned. Sean began his apprenticeship working in hotels in Shanghai in the ‘90s when he was 17. Fresh out of culinary school he recalls learning first-hand from his superiors how to cook Shanghai’s signature cuisine by sight, taste and smell.

“I worked in hotels that focused on Shanghainese cuisine and learned how to cook with live seafood, especially crab and pipis. The preparation process is very traditional and I was taught to follow very strict preparation regimes but we never used recipes. All sauces are made to order, so you have to learn how to cook each of them from scratch.”

This ‘from scratch’ approach has travelled with Sean throughout his career, with the natural nine kitchen now accustomed to building their sauces to-order from that same blend of sight, taste and smell.

“It’s all about the preparation, the quality of the food comes from the beginning, from fresh produce that shines through when you have a dish with only a few ingredients. You should never be over seasoning.”

Shanghai’s coastal location also means that fresh seafood, especially crab and lobster, is a mainstay of the cuisine. It’s also now a mainstay at natural nine.

Earlier this year, natural nine hosted a special Live Seafood Easter Menu featuring Shanghainese flavours. It proved so popular they decided to invest in permanent tanks and offer live seafood at market prices, including lobster, mud crab and  bluethroat wrasse, seven days a week. So far, it’s been a roaring success.

“We’ve even had some customers pre-ordering live seafood for future bookings to make sure it’s available when they visit.”

As for the future of natural nine’s menu, Sean is excited for the set menu he’s created for Room 8, natural nine’s private dining room which can seat between six and 10 guests as well as natural nine’s upcoming Christmas In July Banquet, which will be held across 25-27 July.

Ready to try Shanghainese? Chef Sean is ready and waiting.

Image supplied.