A Fast Feeding Frenzy in Shanghai, as Chronicled on Facebook
En route to Chengdu in May, I enjoyed a short stay in Shanghai, which I previously visited in 2005. I’m long overdue in writing my report, so I hereby present it as a photo journal, largely mirroring how I chronicled my eating on my Gastrolust page at Facebook.
Arrival Night
Landed in Shanghai and made a beeline for dinner at Old Jesse. Digging in to cong shao yu tou (fish head roasted in green onions). Also some “vegetarian chicken” plus dates stuffed with glutinous rice.
Had to have hongshao rou (red-cooked braised pork belly). Quite sweet, as expected.
Noodles with green scallion oil. After mixing, requested even more oil!
I really enjoyed this vegetable dish with ham, century egg and garlic. I’m told the vegetable is “mishi,” which is aramanthus tricolor, aka Joseph’s coat.
Day 1
The upside of no sleep due to jet-lag? 6:30am breakfast at nearby Fu Chun in Shanghai. Xiao long bao and wonton soup. I’m told the xlb here is Shanghai-style (vs. Nanxiang-style), with thicker skin, leaner pork, and a little less soup.
Big dumpling day in Shanghai continues. Sampled several baskets of xiao long bao at Jia Jia Tang Bao. These are pork and crab. Also tried plain pork, plus a unique pork with egg yolk. Thin skins and fatty pork flavor. Our group ordered so many xlb that we gave one basket to our table-mates. After my group left, those table-mates let me try a crab xlb, which was big and crabby.
Shuangdan wontons at Shengxing Snack Shop. 5 large pork-and-chive wontons, and 12 small pork ones. Fantastic. And under $2.
Making wontons at Shengxing Snack Shop.
Thanks to UnTour Shanghai for inviting me to their fun Night Market Tour, where I watched my water snake get killed, skinned and fried.
Snake, cooked up.
Impressive sesame wontons from Er Guang.
Final stop on the Untour tour was a feast that included this very spicy (made-me-happy) ma po tofu.
Day 2
Morning noodle run to Wei Xiang Zhai in Shanghai. So good, I had to have two types. First, sesame noodles ($1.50) with a side of beef curry broth. Superb!
Second, spicy beef noodles.
That morning noodle run meant a nice stroll through the French Concession. Rainy but beautiful.
Then, a nice lunch at Guyi Hunan Restaurant. Vegetables with very smoky bacon.
Guyi’s fried pork ribs with chili and cumin.
Hot and sour vermicelli at Guyi.
Xiangjiang-style fish head at Guyi. It’s got pickled peppers, but came missing the chili peppers, as the server was afraid they would scare me. I can probably eat much spicier than the server can. (Once finished, the server added noodles to the broth.)
An ideal snack: Yang’s Fry Dumplings in Shanghai. I dug the thinness of the dough as compared to the doughiness of other sheng jian bao I’ve tried.
Delicious dinner at Yun Hai Yao. Loved the fun flavors of Yunnan cuisine. Here: Yunnan Yanglin-style sauerkraut fish. The tomato and plum were terrific additions.
Lijiang-style beancurd made from local chickpeas at Yun Hai Yao. With two dipping sauces.
Yun Hai Yao’s cold rice noodles with shredded chicken.
Getaway Morning
With an early flight out, hotel breakfast at the Hilton Shanghai isn’t bad, especially with a wide variety of things for congee. I especially enjoyed the little Chinese artichokes.