Hearty cuisine can ease winter’s sting

Cuisine from northwestern China can be ideal comfort food. Residents of Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang provinces eat a lot of mutton, which is considered a "warm" food in traditional Chinese medicine. Heavy flavors complement winter weather nicely.

Authentic northwestern Chinese cuisine is just around the corner in Minhang. It may be a mutton restaurant or a street stall specializing in hearty snacks.

Here's a guide to some of the best offerings.

Northwest snacks

Roujiamo, which people sometimes humorously translate as "Chinese hamburger," is a Shaanxi-origin snack that has become popular throughout the country, if often varied from place to place.

Roujiamo is basically a steamed bread with minced meat, but this version is different from standard baozi because the filling is not completely encased.

Authentic Shaanxi roujiamo is made with mutton or pork. The meat is simmered in a sauce made with more than 30 seasonings, giving it a rich flavor.

Northwest Hulless Oat Village in Minhang is believed to be the best restaurant for this specialty in Shanghai.

Here, the roujiamo wrapper is baked in charcoal, giving the snack a crispy surface while retaining a soft middle

The restaurant also serves other signature northwestern dishes, such as steamed hulless oat rolls (筱面窝窝) and hulless oat gnocchi soup (筱面鱼鱼). Both dishes are frequently seen on dinner tables in Shaanxi Province.

The open kitchen plan allows customers to watch the process of making the rolls and gnocchi.

Northwest Hulless Oat Village (西贝筱面村)

Address: B2, 6088 Humin Rd;

5/F, 7388 Humin Rd;

1/F, 3644 Qixin Road