Lao Zheng Xing restaurant in Shanghai is known for its signature dishes like 18-second shrimp and red-braised pig intestine. It's the only State-owned eatery in the city to be honored by the Michelin Guide. The restaurant has been packed to capacity since the award. GAO ERQIANG/CHINA DAILY

They didn't even know they'd won.

At the Michelin Guide's star-awarding ceremony for restaurants that appear in its 2017 guide for Shanghai, the crowd of nervous chefs in white jackets and formidable hats did not include anyone from Lao Zheng Xing.

A representative of the restaurant, the only State-owned eatery to be honored by the prestigious French guide, later explained to China Daily that they had not been informed of their one-star award.

The star designates "high quality cooking worth a stop", such as the wok-fried river shrimps turned out in the Shanghainese restaurant by 27-year-old Wang Hui, who has mastered the art of cooking them since he first set foot in the kitchen at the age of 17.

Every day, Wang supervises hundreds of plates of thumbnail-sized shrimps－which emerge crimson orange after a strictly timed 18-second dive in 200 C oil. The dish has been passed down through 10 generations of chefs at the most historical restaurant in the city.