Most people – including younger Shanghainese – do not associate pork knuckle with Shanghai cuisine. Their most go-to Shanghainese food would be Xia Long Bao, those small steamed pork dumpling that are not even Shanghainese in the first place. Xia Long Bao has been around since the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279) and originates from Kaifeng, capital of the Northern Song, Henan Province.
De Xing Guan was founded in the 4th year of the Guangxu Emperor in 1878 during the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912). Originally located at 529 Fujian Middle Road, it moved to 471 Guangdong Road in 1999. Although there are some 10 outlets, the two you should visit are the Guangdong Road outlet and the 416 Jingling East Road branch. Having visited both, I prefer the latter. All De Xing Guan outlets serve casual dishes such as dim sum, dumplings and noodles.
Only the Guangdong Road and Jingling East Road branches offer more elaborate dishes including Braised Pork Knuckle and Eight Treasure Duck. In summer, a simple cold noodle dish with peanut sauce is utterly irresistible.
It is believed Braised Pork Knuckle was discovered by Qianlong (1711 – 1799) on one of his six visits to the south. One time travelling incognito, the emperor caught wind of an irresistible aroma and followed it to a little hut in a small village. Such was the impression the smell of the dish had on the ruler he told the palace chef who accompanied him it had to be included to the imperial menu.
416 Jin Ling Dong Lu • Huangpu Qu
德兴馆 • 黄浦区金陵东路416号
