Jia Jiang Noodles

Although the spiritual home of this dish is Beijing, it was so popular that it crossed many borders over the centuries and is today as much a part of the eastern regional cooking school as the northern one. It is particularly entrenched in Shanghai; in fact some locals even claim that it originated here and was taken to the north when dynastic rulers combed the country for top chefs and the best dishes. Whatever its evolution, it is delicious.