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BEST SELLERS

Drunken crabs [Photo provided to Shanghai Star]

Drunken sea whelks

Drunken sea whelks, or "yellow mud snails" (huangni luo) remain hugely popular. Increasing pollution means that the company now sources its snails from further afield, like the cleaner waters of Liaoning and North Korea.

The whelks are salted three times, then preserved in high-quality rice wine. They are then graded into four levels by size and quality: gold mark, silver mark, banquet and family.

Drunken Crabs

All the crabs come from Baoying in Jiangsu province, and the supplier has been working with Shao Wan Sheng for decades.

The crabs are only available between Nov 1 and April 30.

Chinese ham

Pork hind legs and forelegs are purchased in Shaanxi before the winter.

The legs are shipped to Jinhua in Zhejiang for processing in the spring of the second year. Usually, it takes a year before the hind legs are ready, but the forelegs are available from July to September.

Something fishy: Drunken seal whelks are available all year round. part of the landscape: Shao Wan Sheng on East Nanjing Road as it was in the 1910s, and as it is today. Photos provided to Shanghai star