Cong you ban mian: scallion oil noodles, the quiet masterpiece

Three ingredients and a lot of technique. The scallions are cooked in oil over a low flame until they brown and the oil tastes of them, then that oil is tossed through hot noodles with soy and sugar.

If ordering Shanghai dishes feels like a gamble, this is the safest bet in the city: cheap, vegetarian-adjacent (check the oil), universally available, and genuinely Shanghai rather than generically Chinese.

What you get on top

The base is plain. Most places offer additions for a few yuan: a fried egg, braised pork, shrimp, or a scattering of dried shrimp.

Order it with 辣肉 (spicy pork) or a soft-boiled egg. Both are standard Shanghai additions and neither is expensive.

The sugar question

Shanghai versions include sugar, sometimes more than you expect. It balances the soy rather than making the dish dessert-sweet, but if you are very sugar-averse mention it.

There is no reliable phrase to get it removed — it is in the oil. If sweetness in savoury food bothers you, this may not be your dish.

Where

Any noodle shop, and almost every neighbourhood restaurant. Look for a menu board with a dozen noodle variations and people eating alone at midday.

It arrives in about four minutes, which makes it the ideal filling breakfast or the right order when you have twenty minutes before a museum.