When you wander through the bustling streets of Shanghai, admiring the modernity of the Bund and the delicacy of Yu Garden, don’t forget to go deep into Sanlin Ancient Town in Pudong to explore a special delicacy that carries a hundred years of Shanghai’s daily life——Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon. Known as one of the “Hundred Treasures of Suburban Shanghai”, this traditional preserved vegetable is not only a classic side dish on Shanghai people’s dining tables, but also a treasure of intangible cultural heritage bearing the memory of Sanlin’s food Culture. For foreign visitors, tasting a bite of Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon is the best way to touch the local life of Shanghai.
The history of Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon can be traced back to the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty. According to legend, Chu Yu, a native of Sanlin who served as a counselor in Jiangxi at that time, often accompanied his meals with his hometown’s pickled melon while supervising the reconstruction of the Hall of Heavenly Purity in the Forbidden City. By chance, it was tasted by Emperor Zhengde, who praised it highly and designated it as a tribute to the imperial court, making it famous ever since. For hundreds of years, Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon has always adhered to traditional craftsmanship. From material selection to pickling, every step reflects the ingenuity of old Shanghai. After years of precipitation, it has become an indispensable part of Shanghai’s intangible cultural heritage. Today, it is not only a taste in the childhood memories of Shanghai people, but also an important carrier attracting foreign visitors to understand Shanghai’s folk Culture.
Different from ordinary preserved vegetables on the market, the uniqueness of Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon first lies in its strict material selection. The main ingredient for making pickled melon is the 50-gram or so young cucumber, also known as milk cucumber, which is small, tender green, thin-skinned, crisp-fleshed, full of moisture and free of crude fiber, making it an excellent raw material for pickling pickled melon. In addition to the main ingredient, the production of the sauce is even more crucial. The people of Sanlin use traditional methods: take flour as the main raw material, add soybean flour, make it into cakes, sTeam and cool them to ferment naturally, then add licorice, salt water and other seasonings, and make mellow soybean paste through long-term sun exposure. This sauce has a strong sauce aroma and a light licorice fragrance, laying a unique flavor foundation for the pickled melon.
The production process of Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon is extremely complicated, requiring multiple steps including material selection, sauce making, pricking, pickling and sun exposure, and no carelessness is allowed in each step. First, wash the selected young milk cucumbers, cut them open to remove seeds, cut off the tails, then prick uniform holes on the melon with a needle to facilitate the sauce to penetrate better. Then, put the processed melon embryos into a large vat for initial pickling to remove water. Adopt the method of “pickling at night and drying in the sun” to remove excess water from the cucumbers and make the melon flesh firm. After the melon embryos are dehydrated, put them into the secret soybean paste for long-term pickling. During this period, turn the vat regularly to ensure that each pickled melon is evenly coated with sauce and absorbs the essence of the sauce. Finally, after repeated sun exposure, the sauce flavor is completely integrated into the melon flesh, forming a unique taste of sweet, fragrant and crisp. The whole process takes dozens of days, without adding any preservatives, retaining the most authentic taste of the ingredients.
For foreign visitors, tasting Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon can not only experience the unique Chinese flavor, but also unlock a variety of eating methods that fit the local life. The most classic collocation is Shanghai people’s breakfast——soaked rice. A bowl of light soaked rice with one or two slices of cut sweet pickled melon is salty and sweet, crisp and refreshing, instantly awakening the taste buds and starting a vital day. This is also the unchanged breakfast habit of Shanghai people since childhood. Foreign visitors can experience the most authentic Shanghai breakfast Culture through this. In addition, Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon can also be matched with sTeamed buns, bread, or cut into diced and stir-fried with edamame to make the Shanghai home-cooked dish “Stir-Fried Edamame with Pickled Melon”. The crisp pickled melon with fresh edamame is not only a magic weapon for serving rice, but also a good side dish for drinking. It can be eaten hot or cold, with full flavor. If you want to take it away to share, you can also cut the pickled melon into shreds and match it with rice, noodles, or as an ingredient for sandwiches, so that you can taste the flavor of Shanghai in a foreign country.
When coming to Shanghai, if you want to buy authentic Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon, it is recommended that foreign visitors go to the authentic stores in and around Sanlin Ancient Town, avoiding the assembly line products in Internet-famous check-in spots, so as to taste the most authentic traditional flavor. The first choice is the Sanlin Time-Honored Pickled Melon Store located at No. 141 Zhonglin Street, Pudong New Area (near Lingyan South Road). This store has a history of hundreds of years, and all pickled melons are made by hand with a variety of varieties. In addition to the classic sweet pickled melon, there are also osmanthus-flavored sweet pickled melon, white sugar young milk pickled melon and other varieties. The store has a simple environment and the boss is enthusiastic. He can also introduce the history and eating methods of pickled melon to visitors, which is very suitable for foreign visitors to buy. Here, you can not only buy authentic pickled melon, but also feel the daily life atmosphere of Sanlin Ancient Town. There are also scenic spots such as Sanlintang Old Street nearby, which you can visit along the way to experience Sanlin culture immersively.
In addition, the sweet pickled melon produced by Sanlin Pickled Vegetable Factory is also recommended. Founded in 1956, this factory inherits the traditional craftsmanship of Wantai Sauce Garden and has developed more than 30 new varieties of pickled vegetables. Among them, the white sugar young milk pickled melon has also won the title of Shanghai Famous and High-Quality Product. The products are sold well in major supermarkets and exported to Japan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and other countries and regions. Foreign visitors can also buy them in large supermarkets in Shanghai (such as Lianhua and China Resources Vanguard), which are easy to carry and store. The shelf life is usually about 6 months. When buying, you can consult the clerk to choose the appropriate specification and variety according to your own needs.
It should be noted that Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon is a preserved food with a salty and sweet taste and high salt content, so it is recommended to eat it in moderation; for visitors who like light taste, you can choose the osmanthus-flavored sweet pickled melon, which has a softer taste and a light osmanthus fragrance. When buying, you can observe the appearance of the pickled melon. High-quality Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon has a ruddy color, complete shape, no damage, no mold spots, a strong sauce aroma and sweetness, and no peculiar smell. Such pickled melon is the authentic Sanlin flavor.
Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon, a seemingly ordinary preserved vegetable, carries hundreds of years of food culture and folk memory of Shanghai. It has no luxury of delicacies from mountains and seas, but has the most simple and authentic local flavor. For foreign visitors, when coming to Shanghai, in addition to visiting the iconic scenic spots, you may wish to take a little time to walk into Sanlin Ancient Town, taste a bite of Sanlin Sweet Pickled Melon, understand its history and craftsmanship, and feel the daily life and ingenuity of local Shanghai. I believe this bite of crispness, tenderness and sweetness will become the most unique and unforgettable taste memory in your Shanghai trip, and also allow you to deeply understand Shanghai’s folk culture and unlock a different Shanghai travel experience.
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