Muslim Market Shanghai

What to See There?

The Muslim Market is an iconic place in Shanghai, not only for the Chinese Muslim community, but for all culture enthusiasts and food lovers visiting or living in the city. It’s probably the best place in Shanghai to find large chunks of meat at a decent price.

Located next to the Huxi Mosque and organised every Friday from 10 am to 3 pm, you can already see and hear the market from afar, with thick clouds of BBQ smoke covering Aomen Road and loud shouting of Uyghur butchers piercing your ears.

The main star of the market, and what makes Chinese Muslim food stand out from the rest of the Mainland’s cuisine, is lamb. Personally, I’m not a big fan of Chinese (meat) dishes – too boney, too much fat, not enough meat – but Xinjiang food has always been my favorite. Naan bread, lamb shish, large portions of fried rice, what’s not to love?

It’s quite the spectacle as well: chefs swinging around their hand-pulled noodles, butchers chopping an entire lamb on the street, families preparing traditional polu (pilaf) in a huge wok pan, bakers loudly presenting their pastries and cakes, couples beating some dough and selling their fresh flat bread straight from the naan oven. We definitely encourage you to watch our video about the Muslim Market Shanghai, as this will give you a clear idea about the atmosphere there.

What to Get There?

The most popular food item that is sold at many stalls are lamb kebabs (kawaplar). Chinese people are masters at seasoning, and anything skewered is incredibly tasty in this country. Just be prepared to queue. We were hangry so we weren’t patient enough to wait in line.

We shared a portion of polu (20RMB) instead, a typical Uyghur dish made with rice, lamb, carrots and raisins, all mixed together in a giant stir-fry pan. Xinjiang’s take on fried rice basically, and comfort food at its best.

Another thing to get from the food stalls are nuts, dried fruits and of course the classics: baozi, jiaozi, dumplings, buns.

Who can resist bread? Ever? Especially when they are freshly made in the carbon oven in front of your eyes. Get the naan.