{"id":24330,"date":"2025-12-30T14:10:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=24330"},"modified":"2025-12-30T14:10:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:10:35","slug":"local-approaches-to-ningbo-cuisine-at-yong-fu-in-hong-kong-and-shanghai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=24330","title":{"rendered":"Local approaches to Ningbo cuisine at Yong Fu in Hong Kong and Shanghai"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Upon opening in Shanghai in 2011, Yong Fu quickly became a mainstay in the city\u2019s fine dining scene. Eight years later, the restaurant expanded with a discreet venue in Hong Kong\u2019s Wan Chai district<\/span>. Despite sharing the same name and culinary roots, the two branches have developed distinct identities, adapting the savoury and umami core of Ningbo cuisine to their respective regional palates.<\/div>\n

Their shared foundational philosophy, as explained by Shanghai\u2019s chef Xu Kun-lei, involves honouring Ningbo cuisine\u2019s major flavour profiles through simple seasonings like salt, sugar, soy sauce, wine and perhaps a few condiments such as bean paste. Ningbo was a historic port, with its cuisine featuring an abundance of seafood and relying on traditional techniques like fermentation and braising. However, the application of these principles differs significantly between the two cities Yong Fu is based in \u2013 a divergence that begins with how each restaurant defines itself within its local culinary context.<\/p>\n

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Chef Xu Kun-lei of Yong Fu\u2019s Shanghai branch. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Despite clear, defined practices, Ningbo cuisine<\/span> is often mistaken for Shanghainese cuisine. The difference is clear though, according to Xu, a Ningbo native with 30 years\u2019 experience in kitchens. Xu explains that Ningbo highlights savoury notes, while Shanghainese focuses on sweeter flavours and thicker glaze-like sauces, most notably seen in Shanghai\u2019s iconic hong shao rou with its dark, sweet sauce.<\/div>\n

The Shanghai branch of Yong Fu, perched high above The Bund, offers a modern, polished interpretation. Under Xu, the approach is one of meticulous sourcing and refined presentation. The focus is on hero ingredients and allowing their inherent quality to define the dish.<\/p>\n

This is exemplified in two signature items. The small octopus is sourced from specific wet sandy beaches. Here, the key technique is not slow cooking \u2013 the traditional method to soften an octopus\u2019 muscles \u2013 but violence. These small octopuses require a beating. \u201cThey must be heavily smacked as part of the preparation to yield a unique, crunchy texture,\u201d Xu explains.<\/p>\n

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The view from Yong Fu\u2019s location on The Bund in Shanghai. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Similarly, the pan-seared scallops with bean paste features large scallops from Zhangzi Island. They are seared to a succulent exterior while keeping the middle rare, served in a lacquered sauce made from Yong Fu\u2019s own doubanjiang. This Ningbo-style fermented bean paste, earthier than its Sichuan counterpart, is designed to accentuate the scallop\u2019s briny umami.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Upon opening in Shanghai in 2011, Yong Fu quickly became a mainstay in the city\u2019s fine dining scene. Eight years later, the restaurant expanded with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[14511,5449,3569,5231,1034,12395,7282,4389],"class_list":["post-24330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-approaches","tag-cuisine","tag-hong","tag-kong","tag-local","tag-ningbo","tag-shanghai","tag-yong","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24330\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}