Jostling his way through the aisles in between myriad food stalls, Gao Xiaosheng seemed to be at ease among squealing housewives bargaining with the vendors at Laoshan Wet Market, taking his time browsing over vegetables, seafood and other produce. The executive Chinese chef of Gui Hua Lou, Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai, visits the market almost every week to learn about the market and source the latest ingredients.

Knowing the market like the back of his hand, Gao can easily tell where the vegetables and other goods sold here come from. "The secret to tell whether the green-leaf vegetables were grown in nature or in greenhouses is to look at their colors. The color of the veggies grown in greenhouses is usually even, while that of those grown outside is a bit streaky and varied in shape, due to uneven sunlight," said the Yangzhou native who comes from a farmers' family.

As the mercury drops, the latest veggies coming into the market include pea sprouts, white turnips and radishes, bamboo shoots, tonghao (crowndaisy chrysanthemum) and qingcai, which is the most common green vegetable on Chinese dining table.

White turnip and radish are among the main seasonal ingredients in autumn and winter. The root vegetables, which are "more nourishing even than ginseng after autumn," help relieve cough, clean the lungs, reduce phlegm and improve digestion. The "cool" ingredients also help relieve internal heat and autumn dryness.

There is a variety of white turnips and radishes on the market. Radish is usually marinated and made into a side dish for breakfast. Those long plump ones are best to stir-fry or make soup, which "taste like fruits," Gao said.

A kind of smaller, round turnips with fushcia skin is also commonly seen. It can be cut into shreds to stir-fry or mix with seasonings, chili or spring onion oil. "These are also good for making soup, especially for the elders, as they will become very tender after stewing with pork ribs for a long time," he added.

To pick the right turnip or radish, hold it in hand and feel the weight. Quality turnip has thin root and smooth skin. But the chef said it's still not the best season for these veggies. "The most savory winter bamboo shoots will come in late November and December. And only after the frost falls will veggies taste best, a bit sweet and soft," he added. Normally, the frost comes when the lowest temperature drops below 5 degrees Celsius.

Right now, people can still grab the chance to savor those food that are about to exit the market, such as water chestnuts. The season for water chestnuts is July to October. The water plants vary in shapes; those with four pointed ends taste best — "sweet and crunchy," said Louis Yang, Event chef de cuisine at Andaz Xintiandi Shanghai. Pick the water chestnuts that are in bright maroon, spotless on the surface. "They are good for skin, and help reduce the internal fire," Yang said.

November is also the time for shrimps, fish, hairy crabs and other seafood. Andaz recently added a typical Shanghai homemade soup noodle onto their menu that features yellow croaker. "The croakers for the soup noodle should not be too large, about 100g each will be best," Yang said. Fresh croakers have shiny scales and bulged eyes, and should never smell too fishy, he added.

They modify the process, fry the fillets before boiling with noodles to make it crispy on the outside but tender inside, according to the chef.

Eel is another seasonal waterfood.

Yellow croaker noodle

25g pickled mustards

100g small yellow croaker

25g bamboo shoots

5g spring onion

5g ginger

100g egg noodles

5g pork oil

Water

Salt

Chicken powder

White pepper

1. Prepare small yellow croakers. Remove the fish bones and cut the croakers into fillets.

2. Chop the fish bones into small pieces and fry with ginger slices. Put in spring onions, rice wine. Add water to make fish soup.

3. While the soup is on the stove, marinate the fillets with ginger and spring onion shreds, salt and rice wine. Put aside for 15 minutes.

4. Fry the fillets till both sides turn into gold.

5. Fry pickled mustards and bamboo shoots with pork oil. Put it in fillets and fish soup, and cook with high heat. Simmer for another 5 minutes after the soup boils. Put in a dab of salt and white pepper to add flavor.

6. Cook noodles in another pot of boiling water. Put the noodles in a bowl when done, pour in soup, and put the fillets on the noodles. Spray a bit spring onion shreds.

Tips:

Hualiang handmade egg noodle is best served with this dish. They use duck eggs instead of chicken eggs to make noodle. The noodles can stay intact for 10 minutes without sticking together in the soup.

Wok-fried duck eggs with hairy crab paste in mini buns

2 duck eggs

50g hairy crab meat

5g ginger

5g pork oil

Salt

Chicken powder

Vinegar

Pepper

Celery

White flour

1. Whip up the eggs with water. Steam the hairy crabs and prepare the meat. Boil a third of the crab meat and a bit of water. Add a little starch.

2. Fry the ginger shreds with pork oil. Add the rest of the crab meat and keep stir-frying. Add the egg liquid.

3. Put in the crab meat soup when the eggs are about medium well. Season with a dab of salt, chicken and a few drop of vinegar. Put the crab paste into mini buns and garnish with celery.

Tips:

Hairy crab is in. To make hairy crab paste, choose the second best ones from lakes such as Taihu Lake. Pick the ones with golden hairs, white bellies and greenish shells, weight around 100 grams each.

Wok-fried water shrimps and water chestnuts

200g water shrimps

50g water chestnuts

10g sweet peas

Salt

Chicken powder

Starch

White pepper

Rice wine

1. Shell the shrimps. Mix with rice wine, salt and white pepper. Pinch with hand. Add a little baking soda and starch, with oil on the top. Put into the fridge for half a day.

2. Remove the husks of water chestnuts and prepare sweet peas.

3. Wok-fry the shrimps with small fire. Add sweet peas and water chestnuts. Dish up. Drain the oil.

4. Leave some of the stock in the wok. Season with a bit white pepper, rice wine, salt and sugar. Put in the shrimp again, and starch.

Taro chips

750g Lipu taro

200g minced meat

50g mushrooms

10g chili

10 bamboo shoots

Spring onion

Garlic

Ginger

Soy sauce

Black bean sauce

Sesame oil

1. Skin the taros and cut into strips (5cm by 1cm by 1cm). Deep fried with oil.

2. Stir fry minced meat with mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

3. Add in chillies, spring onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and black bean sauce. Pour in 100g water.

4. Boil with fried taro chips. Simmer for 3 minutes. Cook with high fire until dry. Dress with sesame oil and dish up.

Tips:

Taros are available all autumn/winter after Mid-autumn Festival. Those from Lipu in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are considered the best.

Fried eels with pine nuts

750g eels

10g pine nuts

Vinegar

Sugar

Oyster oil

Soy sauce

1. Prepare eels. Remove the bones and skins. Cut into slices and put into iced water for about 1 hour. Dry the eel slices, and starch.

2. Deep fry the eels. Drain the oil. Fry with vinegar, soy sauce, oyster oil and sugar. Starch.

3. Add in pine nuts and stir-fry.

Tips:

Add a bit of vinegar to remove the fishy smell of eels. Vinegar also breaks down the fiber of eels to make the meat more tender. Chef Gao pairs the dish with tart to enrich flavors. You can use the base of egg tarts to simplify the process.

Gold tofu

300g eggs

100g soy bean sauce

100g milk

50g tofu

5g sweet peas

5g carrots

100g broth

50g flour

1. Whip up the eggs with soy bean sauce. Mix with milk and tofu. Steam for 15 minutes. Freeze in the fridge for 2 hours. Cut into pieces.

2. Coat the tofu with mixture of flour and egg oil.

3. Deep fry the tofu.

4. Put the broth in a pot. Cook with sweet peas and carrots. Add water starch to make the sauce. Dress the sauce over the tofu.

Grouper curry

750g grouper

250g cucumbers

300g mushrooms

200g dragon whisk noodles

100g shrimp curry sauce

150g broth

100g filled evaporated milk

1. Prepare the fish. Starch the fillets and fry.

2. Put the fillets in a pot, add in mushrooms and cucumbers to cook.

3. Deep fry dragon whisk noodles.

4. Stir fry the fillets with filled evaporated milk, broth and shrimp curry sauce. Dish up.

5. Top the fried noodles over the fillets.

Tips:

You can change the grouper here to whatever seafood you like. Be it mandarin fish or lobster, the key is the sauce. Normal egg noodle also works here if you fail to find dragon whisk noodle.