Shanghai

The last Shanghai thread I could find was six years old, and combined with Beijing and Xi'an (here, for those who would like to peruse it), so with 22 hours to spend there next weekend, I thought I'd give Shanghai its own thread.

Here's a tentative itinerary, none of which is set in stone if anybody has any recommendations:

Saturday
We get in late, but old Ji Shi (Jesse) apparently goes to midnight on the weekends, so I'm thinking some straight-up old school Shanghainese is a good way to start.

Sunday
XLB are obviously on the itinerary, but I'm not sure more than one place will be in the cards, so I'm thinking of starting off with breakfast at Jia Jia Tang Bao, perhaps followed by a stop across the street at Xiao Yang Shen Jian and then a walk over to Shanghai First Food Store, as recommended by Jing Theory.

For lunch, I'm kind of excited by the thought of stuffing myself with hairy crab, and Xinguang Restaurant is right there. It sounds like there are plenty of cheaper and more homey places around town, but with such a narrow window I think I'm willing to take the easy route here for the sake of expedience. My only concern is that I think we're right on the tail end of hairy crab season, are we not? Anybody know if it's late enough in the season that I should focus elsewhere?

Saving time with the obvious choice there will also leave time to cab over to TonyC's rec of Sipalou Rd. for street food and a little old Shanghai flavor before rushing off to the airport.

I feel like that's a solid itinerary, and I can't imagine cramming much more into that time frame, though as mentioned, any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Will certainly report back!

Bump. . . . So, Dom, what did you find in Shanghai? I'm headed there soon, with a wide-open time frame and local help to find whatever I'm looking for. I'll certainly take TonyC up on his street-food suggestions. I'd also invite others who travel to China (CrazyC, you know who you are!) to suggest their favorite spots or blogs. Beijing and Yunnan Province are also on the itinerary, so, perhaps GAF will weigh in on the trip he took there last year.

And, just for grins, I found this thread on shanghaiexpat.com and this tussle on the same site, which reminded me of some of the antics here on our own beloved LTH. I think I am going to have a lot of fun with this project. On the other hand, it looks like Dom did his homework and I could just follow in his footsteps. . .

Just got back from China a week ago...

My brief thoughts on various places in Shanghai:

1.) Old Jesse - Good food... But IMO, overpriced. It would be a great place if it was in the US. But it was very pricey by China standards. It may take a while, but when you are paying USD$1 for 4 Xiao Yang Shen Jian Baos for lunch and then $30 a head for dinner, you may feel the same way too! It is very easy to think "Wow! What a deal! Only $30 for that amount of food!" but a few days later, you would be scratching your head!

2.) Xiao Yang Shen Jian Baos are my absolute favorite! I even picked my hotel based on its proximity (5 min walk!). Tip: Get your "ticket" from the lady on the left before getting in line on the right (where the food is) to pick up your order. Skip the soup unless you really like MSG! And bring napkins/kleenexes...

3.) Jia Jia Tang Bao is right across the street from Xiao Yang, so it is perfect for a one-two. The 100% crab filled ones are over kill. The crab and pork ones are nicely balanced. If on a budget (wink! Get the joke?), try the shrimp and pork one. They also have a salted yolk one that is pretty good (and watch out for your cholestrol!)

4.) Shanghai First Food Store is an awesome place to get snacks, candy, edible gifts, pork candy contraband and whatnot. Go early to avoid the crowd and bring your own bags! They charge for plastic bags! We always get the candied crabapples, and hickory nuts (amazingly good). But you can get everything in the other food stalls down Nanjing Road too!

5.) My personal favorite place on Nanjing Road has not been written about I think... To the left of this Pizza Hut, on Nanjing Road, is a "store"... actually it's more of a counter with windows, and there are a plethora of steamed rice cakes. Eight Treasure Rice here is big and good, or maybe one of those chewy rice cakes with red bean paste? Mike loves their green cake steamed rice cakes. Each of the small cakes are around 2 yuan (USD $0.30?) It's street level and there is a food store (like Shanghai First Food Store but smaller) next door.

6.) Keep walking down Nanjing Road and you will see another food store on the corner of Nanjing Road and an alley. This alley will have a takoyaki place with a robotic octopus (I am not joking). Walk down that alley and you will find De Xing Guan. Now, there are 2 types of XLB. The thin skinned, soupy ones are actually called Nanjing Tang Bao. De Xing Guan makes the traditional, thicker skinned Shanghai XLB. It is interesting to try the both and see what you like.

7.) Now that you have some food in your belly, keeping walking down that street (Shan Xi Nan Lu), and hang a left at Tianjin Road. On the same side of the street of Alldays (a 7-11), there is an alley. A great example of an open air market... Fish and other sea critters in tubs overflowing with water, a guy making fresh springroll wrappers (I have a video! Will post), vegetables like a funky looking cauliflower, Yunnan tea, etc...

Hope some of this helps! I have photos but had laptop issues! I will get it up in this post soon!

I can't believe I've been back almost a month, which means it's been nearly a month and a half since our day in Shanghai. A whirlwind tour. I did what I could:

The night we got in was pretty late, so we closed out Old Jesse. I figured some safe, classic Shanghainese would be a good way to start. It's a postage stamp of a place. They had to practically rearrange the entire first floor so we could get into our seats. That earned more than a few sideways glances. There's a second floor as well, but we didn't see it. It's an easy menu to navigate, and in a flash of brilliance, I forgot to write down the names of the items we had, so these are all kind of paraphrased.


Salted Chicken
This was a cold appetizer, lightly marinated, I think, but barely any flavor other than the chicken and salt. This was one seriously lean bird, which is typical, but it struck me as especially so. Which is just as well since the skin's where it's at. They're not afraid to make things chewy over there, and this was no exception. Perhaps a touch over my preference, but nothing that bothered me.


Beef Tendon
Another cold appetizer, this one I enjoyed an awful lot. Seems like whenever I get chilled beef tendon, it's some fiery Sichuan concoction, so it was nice to have a version that was much mellower. It was lightly sweet and had a little chile heat. The texture on the toasted peanuts was fabulous. They had an unusually nice crunch. And the tendon was cut pretty thick. It had a great chew... stopped just short of being too much.


Fried Bamboo
I'm kind of spoiled on this dish. I think if I were having it for the first time, I would have loved it. It's some kind of supercrisp fried green -- Spinach? Salt cabbage? -- with bamboo that's fried soft and sweet. Needed more salt. But one of our old haunts in Hong Kong used to do an awesome contemporary take on this adding fried conpoy and candied walnuts, so all I could think of was that.


Pork Belly in Brown Sauce
Wow. I've had this dish a whole bunch, but rarely this good. I know it goes by red-cooked pork a lot, but this was really, really dark... the sauce was heavily caramelized. And sweeeeeeet. I'm sure the sweetness would put a lot of people off, but I really dug it. Also, much as I love liquefies-in-your-mouth pork belly, I liked that this one kind of walked the line. The meat had some resilience, but the fat still melted away. Really, really good stuff.


Steamed Fish
I'd heard the steamed yellow perch here was supposed to be really good, and our server waved it off and suggested another, which turned out to be a totally straightforward steamed fish of some variety. You know the dish, and it was a very nice version thereof.


Chicken Soup
I wish I could remember the name of this chicken soup. The price should have clued me into the fact that it wasn't a normal broth. They brought out a huge tureen with a whole chicken swimming in broth with goji berries. I confess, I was a little unsure what to do with this. Were we supposed to eat the meat? Was this dish kind of an extravagance where it was there purely to flavor the broth? The broth was great, very lightly salted, and it picked up the faintest hint of sweet from the berries. And the color... wow. I pulled out a little bit of the chicken, which was fairly spent. I wasn't getting a ton of flavor out of the bird itself. Anyway, while the broth was really lovely, I don't see myself going back for this one.

I'm with CrazyC on quality. It's a very good restaurant. It isn't one of those ones you sit back and marvel at, but everything's really carefully done, and the flavors are really spot on, if very conservatively presented. I have fewer issues with price performance, though I don't doubt you can eat almost as well elsewhere for considerably less scratch. I thought it was worthwhile. And a very appropriate start.

Next morning we were out bright and early for Xiao Long Bao breakfast. I would have loved to tour a few places, but time wasn't on our side, so I picked one. Lin Long Fang is the same ownership as Jia Jia Tang Bao, but a little more off the radar, apparently. I obviously can't speak from personal experience. But the Shanghai bloggers TonyC pointed me to felt that LLF was a little sharper since they weren't dealing with the same crush of people as JJTB. It's really small, and kind of starkly white.


There's a small prep table sort of behind glass (mostly open, just one panel right by the table), and there were three kids working it that morning. They folded everything to order and then sent the baskets into the back room for steaming. There are six or seven larger tables -- seating six. I imagine they become communal tables once the place starts to fill up, but early in the morning it was pretty quiet. I think we got there around 8:00 or so.


They don't use chinkiang vinegar here! Is that atypical or is this an established variant? Instead, the shredded ginger -- sort of a nest of long, fine threads -- was in a sweet, vinegary syrup. I think I actually prefer this to chinkiang vinegar.


Whoa, mama, this was killer stuff. They don't have that prissy perfection of Din Tai Fung (not that I'm knocking DTF's prissy perfection), but they were wonderfully light, good sag, fabulous flavor and tons and tons of soup. I actually prefer them to that DTF clinical precision. They were juuuuust rough enough around the edges to give them some character. We started with the pork, and moved on to the pork and crab. I think this it the first time I've had pork and crab XLB where I felt like the crab was really pulling its weight. I could've inhaled four dozen of these without breaking a sweat. Man, that was amazing.

It sounds like Shanghai street food took a serious hit with all of the runup to Expo, but TonyC turned me onto one old 'hood that hasn't been bulldozed in the name of progress. Most of the street food stalls were on Sipalou Lu just north of Fu Xing Dong Lu... the area is just a little south of City God Temple. I suspect we didn't get the full scene owing to the still early hour and the fact that it was a pretty nippy January morning. A lot of the stalls were shuttered, and it was fairly quiet. But I snagged a couple of goodies.


Qiang Bing... I think?
This was lame, but I don't think it was the fault of the food. I think it was my fault for picking street food that I didn't watch come hot off the griddle. It was a very bready pancake, toasted on both sides and sprinkled with sesame, gooey scallions inside. It was just completely limp and falling apart. I suspect I got a substandard version. So I resolved not to make that mistake again and picked this guy...



...who made this...


Jian Bing
...which completely kicked ass. The "griddle" was a flat piece of metal over a rusty drum. He ladled out some really viscous batter and spread it around. When it started to set, he cracked an egg on top, salted it and kind of scrambled it around. Then he flipped the crepe, smeared on bean paste, chucked on some chopped scallions and cilantro and tossed in a little chili paste. Then, before he served it, he laid across these really crisp, brittle sheets of fried bean curd, folded the whole thing over a few times, sliced it in half, stacked the halves and wrapped them, and handed them to me. This was seriously awesome. Not especially refined, of course, but just hot and delicious. The flavors were huge, nice balance of sweet and spicy and the aromatics. The texture was amazing, with the thin crepe and the really, really crisp bean curd in the middle. I'm sure this would have lost 90% of its awesomeness if it sat for five minutes. No fear of that. I think I finished it in about 30 seconds flat.

I feel a little guilty that I skipped the You Tiao (fried breadsticks), it's such a Shanghai thing, but it just wasn't happening. I needed a little break. Just west of this stretch of Sipalou Lu is a neighborhood market area that's really fabulous. There's one block that has an indoor market with maybe 30 stalls of every kind -- produce, fish, beef, pork, poultry, pickles, cured meats, etc. etc. -- but what I loved was the street scene outside. This area was PACKED on a Sunday, and people just kind of haphazardly set up carts and lean-tos and sold stuff off the street. It's downright depressing when some random alley stall in Shanghai has better looking greens than anything I can get at home. Anyway, this market I enjoyed an awful lot. You travel and you tend to hit the huge ones, and this one certainly wasn't small, but it felt so impromptu that the chaos was really cool.

We kind of caught the tail end of hairy crab season, so I really wanted to do some crab. I'd read some good things about Xinguang Jiu Jia, which does lengthy set menus that are all built around crabmeat. We picked one that was kind of middle of the road... seven courses. Though they were mostly very simple and very small.


Crab, Crab, Crab and Crab
These were the first four, which arrived rapid-fire. They were quite small, even if it doesn't come across in the pictures. The first was seamed claw meat, which actually struck me as rather dry. I was disappointed. They served two dipping sauces -- one straight chinkiang vinegar, the other a really sweet, gingery vinegar syrup of sorts -- and it needed them. The second one is the leg meat, which was a whole lot better, stir fried with asparagus. It had a very light sauce that was more lubrication than anything. But the moistness brought it all out. I liked this one. Though not as much as I liked the third. This was all of those random bits of body meat -- the equivalent of backfin, I believe -- that had been stir-fried with just a touch of the mustard and a couple of other subtle seasonings that I couldn't quite place. This was pretty freaking delicious. And I loved the fourth one, which was big, neon orange chunks of the mustard served on top of these thick, slippery bean noodles. This is like the nexus of crab funk. My father was completely not into it, but I adored it. It definitely needed just a splash of one of the sauces to cut it a bit, though. Without that, I don't think I would have enjoyed it nearly as much. Made a huge difference.


Thick Crab Soup
This was a nice soup, if unexceptional. Of course, I accidentally dumped about a quarter cup of white pepper in it, and fished most of it out but it was still more peppery than I would have liked. But it was a simple thickened soup with a whole bunch of crab meat in it. Nothing not to like here.


Noodles with Crab
Very mixed emotions here. I liked the crab a lot, another stir-fry variation that was very moist and had just a hint of sweetness. But the noodles seemed like an afterthought. Oh, yeah, some noodles, whatever. Which is too bad, because on top of some really excellent noodles I think this could have been awesome.


Crab Dumpling Soup
The last dish was a light broth with crab-filled wontons, and it was a nice, delicate finish. The allium flavor was actually quite strong... not just a hint or a little bit of brightness. It was almost more of a scallion soup with some crab. But it was good. To finish, they served us a ginger tea that was AMAZING. It was dark brown, quite sweet, and super, super intense. I'd love to know what it was or how to make it. I'd do it at home if I knew how.

There were some ups and downs at Xinguang, but the ups were high enough that I left pleased. Though I'm more than a little hesitant about price performance. This was in the neighborhood of $85/pp, and though I didn't do a lot of hairy crab comparison shopping, that seems kind of absurd. Still, it was a lot of crab, and zero effort crab at that, which is kind of awesome. I love cracking crabs, but there's something nice about the low maintenance version.

We took a quick walk through First Food Store, and I can't say I'm quite as much of a fan. I recognize that it's pretty cool, but next to the Japanese food departments it seems a whole lot less impressive. Though I realize it's more about snacks and candies, and the fact that it was a total zoo didn't help.

I wanted to squeeze in Jia Jia for a second pass at XLB and hit Xiao Yang Shen Jian across the street for Shen Jian Bao (a thicker, cast iron griddled XLB cousin), but we were out of time and capacity. Wish we could've stayed longer, but I feel like it was a pretty good day.

Old Jesse (Ji Shi)
www.xinjishi.com
41 Tianping Lu
Shanghai, China
6282-9260

Lin Long Fang
10 Jianguo Dong Lu
Shanghai, China
6386-7021

Xinguang Jiu Jia
512 Tianjin Lu
Shanghai, China
6322-3978

Dom,

Yummm, brings back memories! Lucky you....

Back in the day, the resto at the Peace Hotel was one of the best in the city--does it even still exist?
Are eel and head-on freshwater shrimp still local faves?

Geo

Geo wrote:Back in the day, the resto at the Peace Hotel was one of the best in the city--does it even still exist?
Are eel and head-on freshwater shrimp still local faves?

Search me... I was there for less than 24 hours

Wish I'd had more time.

Yes, everything at the Peace Hotel is the same. Including the old man band.

Thanks to all who posted! Your adventures inspire me! I promise to report back in a timely fashion. In the meantime, I am posting a link that could be helpful to gluten-free travelers to China: http://www.untourshanghai.com/blog/.

If you want something other than Chinese food I used to hit Indian Kitchen once a week in Hong Qiao, but they have a few locations now. Very reasonably price and this place made me like and try Indian Food.
Indian Kitchen
3911号 Hongmei Road, Changning, Shanghai, China
+86 21 6261 8089

There is also a vegetarian restaurant over in Hong Qiao behind the Carfour on the second floor of a building tucked away in a little plaza, sorry but I can't remember the name, but I'm sure lots of gluten free items there. It was a tea house type place.
五观堂素食 Wuguantang Veggie Restaurant
349 Xinhua Road, Changning District 长宁区新华路349号 021-62813695 might be this place, but I'm not totally sure.

Dmnkly wrote:I'm with CrazyC on quality. It's a very good restaurant. It isn't one of those ones you sit back and marvel at, but everything's really carefully done, and the flavors are really spot on, if very conservatively presented. I have fewer issues with price performance, though I don't doubt you can eat almost as well elsewhere for considerably less scratch. I thought it was worthwhile. And a very appropriate start.

Old Jesse -- MOTHEREFFER, THE PRICES! US120 for 3. It's nice, but never, ever, ever again.

It sounds like Shanghai street food took a serious hit with all of the runup to Expo, but TonyC turned me onto one old 'hood that hasn't been bulldozed in the name of progress. Most of the street food stalls were on Sipalou Lu just north of Fu Xing Dong Lu... the area is just a little south of City God Temple. I suspect we didn't get the full scene owing to the still early hour and the fact that it was a pretty nippy January morning. A lot of the stalls were shuttered, and it was fairly quiet. But I snagged a couple of goodies.


Qiang Bing... I think?
This was lame, but I don't think it was the fault of the food. I think it was my fault for picking street food that I didn't watch come hot off the griddle. It was a very bready pancake, toasted on both sides and sprinkled with sesame, gooey scallions inside. It was just completely limp and falling apart. I suspect I got a substandard version. So I resolved not to make that mistake again and picked this guy...

Unbelievable D, I can't believe you made it to Sipailou. It was a pain in the ass even for me. The "da bing" with salty soy paste is a Chinaman's ploughman's lunch. You picked the most peasanty food out of everything on the street. It's not meant to taste good. It's meant to remind you to work hard so you don't ever have to eat da bing again. I have really really fond memories of Sipailou as well. Glad you found the crepe man. There were some fantastic bites on Sipailou Lu. If you crossed Fu Xing East road, Sipailou sort of extends south. There, at night, you would've found the Shanghai I remembered the most from 10 years ago: eating on 1' tall plastic tools, ordering everything "off the menu", drinking piss beer instead of water, ad nausea. Sometimes memory is tastier than life, thankfully Sipailou isn't just a dream.

I was in Shanghai for a few days last week and got to try our three good restaurants: Paradise Garden (in the Jin Mao podium), Lost Heaven on the Bund, and Legend Taste somewhere further west. PD was a good fancy Cantonese restaurant. But the culinary highlights of the trip were the Yunnan dishes at LH and LT. LH is the goto Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai, and the food and ambiance certainly lived up to the billing. However, I was more a fan of LT, much smaller and more informal. It was opened a few years ago by a former chef at LH.

I need to try some Yunnan cuisine in Chicago to see how it compares.

Before I post my pics of Shanghai dumplings, I want to thank PIGMON for his work on xiao long bao in this forum, and for introducing me to what Chicago has to offer in this vein. Also, considering that I had the opportunity to spend more than a week in Shanghai, I am astonished at the scope of Dmnkly's efforts in just 24 hours, and at the clarity of his pictures and documentation. In a city as huge as Shanghai, with its dizzying number of restaurants, noodle shops, markets and street stalls, it is imperative to have some guidance if one does not have the patience and footwear for a "random walk" approach (though either may be equally profitable). It seems to me that the task of the traveler to unfamiliar places is often to simply recognize what he or she is seeing, rather than to succumb to a state of overwhelm and glaze over. This is precisely what all of those who posted here helped me avoid, particularly CrazyC, whose navigation-by-landmark directions were especially appreciated.

Because I was shut out on my first pilgrimage to Din Tai Fung in Arcadia, CA by a projected one-hour-and-forty-five minute wait (and was correctly scolded for sulking by my then teenaged daughter), my husband and I made Din Tai Fung in Xintiandi our first stop. The interior is pretty spiffy.


Din Tai Fung Xintiandi Outlet, Shanghai Interior by Josephine2004, on Flickr

There was no wait whatsoever. In fact, the place was nearly empty when we visited in the late afternoon. That gave us an opening to take pictures of dumpling construction.


Steamers Stacked at Din Tai Fung, Xintiandi by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Filling the XLB at Din Tai Fung, Xintiandi by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Rolling out XLB wrappers at DTF, Xintiandi by Josephine2004, on Flickr

We asked for a order of pork and an order of pork and crab dumplings. They come six to an order, (something I might have appreciated in Beijing while trying to cope with orders of 15 dumplings to a plate). With a couple of beers, our snacks ran about $30. If you take a close look at the tray of pork and crab XLB below, you can make out how translucent the wrappers were. These examples were full of scalding soup and rather mild in flavor, without any funky crabiness, though perhaps that is how the local crab tastes. We were past hairy crab season, so we did not have any baseline. I thought the all-pork filling lacked porkiness. Pretty, delicate, clean and unexciting, the Donna Reed of xiao long bao.


XLB for Ray at DTF, Xintiandi by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Our next opportunity to try xiao long bao came as an impromptu addition to the tour we arranged with Kyle Long, a Sula-in-the-making Portland expat and former Chinese language major who writes on Shanghai eats for Shanghai Talk Magazine. Kyle and his business partner are the founders of UnTours, a company that specializes in making Shanghai streets and street food accessible for Western tourists. We passed on their Running Tour of Shanghai, in favor of the Noodle Tour, which covers 5 key noodle dishes at locations in the French Concession. I'll reserve my full account of that morning for a separate post, but I'll include the xiao long bao here, as Kyle added this stop upon hearing of our interest. He says this place is his favorite in the area, even though the owner seems a bit of a curmudgeon. We extracted nary a glance from him after showing our appreciation for the quality of his wares. That turned out to be an experience never repeated in our travels around China, as people everywhere were welcoming and even playful.


XLB Shop, French Concession by Josephine2004, on Flickr


XLB in French Concession by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I quite enjoyed these dumplings. Their lightly elastic noodle had a wheaten, fully cooked taste of its own that was not lost in spite of the pork that came with the second bite. The broth was hot but not scalding, good, but lacking something. Voluptuous yet wholesome, agreeable, not challenging, the Jennifer Aniston of xiao long bao.

With two days of xiao long bao under my belt, literally, I made a plan for exercise, rather than indulgence, the following day. I was rewarded with bonsai in bloom on a sunny March afternoon in the Yu Yuan (Yu Garden), the well-preserved Ming-era estate located in the McDonald's-Starbucks Concession in the Rolex District of central Shanghai. (Repeat after me: "Bu Yao! Bu Yao!")


Bonsai, YuYuan Gardens Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Yu Yuan Teahouse, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Starbucks, Yu Yuan Garden District by Josephine2004, on Flickr

On this warm Sunday, there were a lot of people out taking pictures and waiting for entrance to the Huxingting teahouse. At first, I could not even discern a queue, with people in line and those not-in-line standing so close to one another. (See what I mean about overwhelm? Adjusting to cultural variations in personal space takes a while. I'm just lucky I did not get run over by a taxi during my naive period.) Eventually, I realized that there was a line for the teahouse and an even longer one that snaked around the teahouse line. Investigation revealed that what people were willing to wait for was dumplings- the xiao long bao at Nanxiang Mantou Dian. I guess I've been hanging out too long at LTH, and have become jaded, but it seemed to me unlikely that some of the top dumplings in the city could be found in such a place, cheek-by-jowl with Haagen Dasz. That, and I hadn't done all my homework, so I could not be sure. I decided that I was hungry enough to try the bao at the establishment next door that was getting the overflow crowd from Nanxiang Mantou Dian, and yet had empty tables.

Perhaps it was the contemplative mood inspired by the garden. Here is where I became philosophical, reflecting that, in food, as in life, one learns the most from one's mistakes. Declining to sulk, as in the failed Din Tai Fung/Arcadia episode, I decided that I was glad that I had sacrificed one meal in order to learn how mediocre dumplings could be, even in Shanghai. These were undercooked, the skin too white and thick, bordering on spongy, the filling marred by bits of gristle that competed for attention with the rubbery pork filling. Could these be a version of the Nanxiang mantou dian? Or were these failed XLB? I was confused at the appeal of such dumplings, and it would be rude to personify them, even though I would not be too distressed to upset fans of Kathy Griffin, should I set my qualms aside.


XLB near YuYuan, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Parenthetically, these facilities in Yu Garden seemed promising, but I cannot offer specifics, as I did not have occasion to check them out.


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The following day, I was really excited to have an opportunity finally to try Jia Jia Tang Bao. Here is the approach to Jia Jia Tang Bao on Huanghe Lu. Note the bamboo scaffolding on the green-draped building at left. This usually indicates a tear-down in progress.


Huanghe Lu, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr

There were two excellent examples of Old Shanghai Art Deco architecture just across the street from Jia Jia Tang Bao. I post these as a reminder that one needs to look up from one's basket of dumplings once in a while.


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Here is the exterior of Jia Jia Tang Bao, and their menu. I was assisted in ordering by a Shanghai native who worked for a multinational corporation. He asked me how I had found this place, and expressed congratulations, saying that Jia Jia's XLB are the best in Shanghai. The hour was just before 2PM, the line was short - a 20 minute wait. They had run out of pork and crab, so I had only the pork dumplings.


Jia Jia Tang Bao, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The dumplings are filled to order. There was a wait of about 15 minutes, in which about five of those minutes are spent waiting for a table. The staff shepherded me through the waiting patrons to an empty stool, and my table mates were chatty, again concurring that these are the best XLB in Shanghai, and surprised at my having found them, in spite of my clarification about finding the place "on the Internet".


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Jia Jia Tang Bao by Josephine2004, on Flickr

So, were they good? Very good indeed. They bore a repeat visit, in which the pork and crab were also sold out, leaving pork-only dumplings for a direct comparison.

If one thinks of the Shanghaianese as the voting membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Jia Jia Tang Bao's XLB are the Meryl Streep of xiao long bao - widely acclaimed. These were the first XLB in my experience that introduced me to what the soup component is supposed to do for the dumpling in in an ideal world. It happens that, in real life, Meryl Streep (along with Kevin Cline) provided me and about 100 others an ideal experience of how gracious a star can be on the first shooting day of "Sophie's Choice." They took the time to personally thank the crew and 30 extras and then treated us all to 1/2 hour lunch at tables set with white linen and red roses while a string quartet played in the background. (It was my first and last ever sit-down lunch in that line of work.) Widely acclaimed, yet humble and generous, the dumplings at Jia Jia Tang Bao are as classic as Meryl Streep. I will plan to take in as many performances as I can.

Below, raymond shows his appreciation for these classics:


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

CrazyC wrote:
2.) Xiao Yang Shen Jian Baos are my absolute favorite!

Deco Building on Huanghe Lu by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Yang's Fried Dumplings (Xiao Yang Shen Jian Bao) is right across the street from Jia Jia Tang Bao, in that beautiful stainless steel Deco building. I was glad that there was a bit of a line, because their preparation involves a bit of kitchen theater. First off, the pan in which they are fried is quite large and the manipulation involved is somewhat complex. The browning phase begins with the addition of oil, and is managed by shaking and turning the pan with the assistance of some pliers. To cook the dumplings through, the pans are covered, then uncovered, browned further, and served.


Rotating the Pan at Xiao Yang Shen Jian by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Dishing Out Xiao Yang Shen Jian Bao by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I was glad that I hit Jia Jia Tang Bao first, as the shen jian baos are quite sturdy, substantial affairs. I found them a bit hard to manage, that is, I could not come up with a strategy that gave me the right size bite at the right temperature. Simultaneously hot an cold, they were tasty, but a bit unpredictable and dangerous. CrazyC, I might have pegged you for a Kathy Moriarty fan!

CrazyC wrote:Keep walking down Nanjing Road and you will see another food store on the corner of Nanjing Road and an alley. This alley will have a takoyaki place with a robotic octopus (I am not joking). Walk down that alley and you will find De Xing Guan. Now, there are 2 types of XLB. The thin skinned, soupy ones are actually called Nanjing Tang Bao. De Xing Guan makes the traditional, thicker skinned Shanghai XLB. It is interesting to try the both and see what you like.

For our last meal in Shanghai we followed Charlotte's directions. No robotic octopus was on display at the takoyaki stand, but I think we found the right place-take a look and see. Sorry I don't have a better picture, but here is one of Ray looking skeptically at the XLB:


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

We passed on the Explosive Fish, thinking it was probably not the best idea before a 13-hour flight. Both dumplings were good, but I'd have to say that I thought that the Jia Jia-Yang's combination was a better one. Still, I am not sure we found the right place. . .


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

UnTours-recommended XLB Shop
601 Nanchang Lu near Xiangyang Lu
(Former French Concession)
Shanghai

Jia Jia Tang Bao
90 Huanghe Lu
(near People's Square)
Shanghai

Xiao Yang Shen Jian (Across the street from Jia Jia Tang Bao)
Huanghe Lu near People's Square

Din Tai Fung (Xintiandi Outlet)
2/F. House 6, South Block, Xintiandi, Lane 123
Xinye Road
Shanghai
(another outlet is in the Super Brand Ma

Josephine, congratulations on earning your masters in xiao long bao. Really terrific post that's making me crazy hungry for xlb right now. Thanks for sharing!

Gads, that is the weirdest thing. Those interior shots of Jia Jia? If not for the fact that the menu placards are red instead of dark wood, I would have SWORN that was the same restaurant as Lin Long Fang. Like, bet large sums of money sworn. (Didn't we do this with Pepe's already? ) Anyway, clearly the same ownership.

I envy the breadth of your XLB experience... look forward to hearing more about the trip!

Thanks for the nice words, BR and Dmnkly, however, I have just barely begun my path to XLB nirvana. I actually felt I let down the team a bit, not hitting more of the places on Jing Theory's essential xiao long bao list and not making it to the TonyC suggested Siapalu Lu. But Shanghai is huge, in spite of the cheap taxis.

Dmnkly wrote:Gads, that is the weirdest thing. Those interior shots of Jia Jia? If not for the fact that the menu placards are red instead of dark wood, I would have SWORN that was the same restaurant as Lin Long Fang. Like, bet large sums of money sworn. (Didn't we do this with Pepe's already? ) Anyway, clearly the same ownership.

Yes, we did do that already with Pepe's! This time, however, I never made it to the look-alike. That is regrettable, but it appears I may have another trip to Shanghai next March, so I hope to do a better job with street food, and to branch out from the center city. Shanghai has a Queens equivalent in the area around Fudan University, where we stayed for convenience to work for my husband. I am dying to explore the China #1 Food Mall, a multistory affair with small food entrepreneurs. Actually, it is more likely that Shanghai has a number of outer borough equivalents that it would take some insider information to find. Luckily, there is lots of real food all around town. Here are a few random street food pics that fit into no particular category:


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

This scene is from Huanghe Lu. I felt a little guilty passing up a sweet potato from this man, who seemed to have few customers that day, but I had just gorged at Jia Jia and Yang's.


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

This was a very sunny day for March, and people were taking advantage of the nice weather to walk and snack in the parks. This vendor was selling sugar cane juice. Overall, I was amazed at the ubiquity of street vendors, many of whom were set up in busy streets with cars roaring inches away.

Below are two pictures that have me and my expat guides stumped. I'd appreciate help identifying these:


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Nice report Josephine, tnx!

Yes, the area around FuDa is interesting. I've stayed in visiting foreign faculty housing there a couple of times, and it's always fun to go out the gate and wander around.

Two things to think about:

1. Sunday morning, the bird market. Always a wonderful experience (at least it was Back in the Day), buy yourself a liter of mealworms for that special thrush you have at home! Folks take their birds (caged) into the parks and let them have some fresh air.

2. Keep your eyes open for the cricket peddler--he'll have a zillion crickets in little cages; you'll hear him before you see him!

The Chinese resto in the Peace Hotel *used* to be one of the finest meals in the city. Don't know whether that still holds, but you might check it out.

Great fun, great city!

Geo

Josephine wrote:Below are two pictures that have me and my expat guides stumped. I'd appreciate help identifying these:


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The first one is Chinese wine... The old fashioned way in old jars...


Bottom row (from the left): The first two are jia fan wine (feeding rice), sweeter wine.
The third one is a 5 year Shaoxing wine (in Chinese: Shaoxing wu nian shan niang). The 4th one is also a Shaoxing wine called fragrant snow (in Chinese: Shaoxing jing pin xiang xue). The 5th one is a five year hua tiao wine.

The one above the hua tiao (2nd row, 1st on the right) is a 10 year Shaoxing nu er hong (daughter red). Traditionally made with wheat and rice, it is buried underground when a baby girl is born and kept there till her marriage. Girls married young back then...

And more information on Classical Rice Wine Brewing Process!

Geo wrote:Yes, the area around FuDa is interesting. I've stayed in visiting foreign faculty housing there a couple of times, and it's always fun to go out the gate and wander around.

Yes, it is interesting to see the food carts lining the routes around the university at all hours. I hope to have more specific recommendations for Fudan area dining soon. If you have work at Fudan or are there as a tourist and can travel downtown outside of rush hour, I can recommend the Crowne Plaza Fudan as an "affordable luxury" hotel option. It might be a worthwhile alternative, especially with kids in tow. The 40 RMB, half-hour cab ride into the center city is not such an obstacle. The hotel itself has huge, comfortable rooms, an attentive, cosmopolitan staff, a gorgeous pool, and hand-pulled noodles at the dinner-time buffet, the perfect welcome after stepping off a 13-hour flight. It's also very quiet, aside from the Muzak, that is.

Geo wrote:Two things to think about:
1. Sunday morning, the bird market. Always a wonderful experience (at least it was Back in the Day), buy yourself a liter of mealworms for that special thrush you have at home! Folks take their birds (caged) into the parks and let them have some fresh air.
2. Keep your eyes open for the cricket peddler--he'll have a zillion crickets in little cages; you'll hear him before you see him!

Those sound wonderful, Geo. I will put them on my list for the next visit. Regarding pets, I was surprised at the number of dogs I saw, especially in Beijing, where it seems to be a status symbol to have a pure-bred dog. Very few mutts in view, in contrast to France, where mongrels seem to be highly favored. I took this photo of laundry drying by a lane house in Shanghai, and my expat friend pointed out that the red satin coat is Chinese puppy couture.


Canine and Human Fashion by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Geo wrote:The Chinese resto in the Peace Hotel *used* to be one of the finest meals in the city. Don't know whether that still holds, but you might check it out.

Definitely, one should see Peace Hotel. It is a Deco gem:


Peace Hotel Ceiling by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Detail, Peace Hotel by Josephine2004, on Flickr

We took these photos of the Chinese restaurant there that you mention. It was the site of an important state dinner during Nixon's first China visit. The spectacular decor made me feel that I might have to break Mike G's rule and someday eat here, whether or not the food is worthwhile.


Historic Restaurant, Peace Hotel by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Peace Hotel Restaurant by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I might, however, risk offending my future dinner companions by staring at the ceiling throughout the meal:


Ceiling, Peace Hotel by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Celining, Peace Hotel by Josephine2004, on Flickr

We did have dinner at the Western restaurant in the Peace Hotel, I believe it is called The Grille. Nothing earthshaking, but a satisfying meal and a lovely room, with a creamy, off-white glow. My husband had the lamb chops and potatoes Anna, which were well-executed. My duck, presented in a trend-conscious, rustic iron pan, was crispy-skinned, atop roasted mushrooms and potatoes. It suffered slightly from oversalting.


Lamb Chops by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Duck at Peace Hotel Grille by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The Bund, where the Peace Hotel is located, is quite breathtaking:


Thr Bund at Night, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr

M on the Bund seems to be a hot restaurant ticket these days, with a new chef, Paul Pairet. It is also a cultural center of sorts for the expat community, hosting literary events in English, and sponsoring writers in residence. At the kind invitation of a friend, I attended a lecture and luncheon on International Women's Day hosted by the Australian Consul. (The previous week my friend, not a foodie, had hosted Harold McGee for the Literary Festival.) We ate huge, immaculate salads of baby cress and ate a porcini risotto that got the endorsement of my Italian tablemates. The view from M on the Bund is great during the day:


View from M on the Bund by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The view might be even better from the Glamour Bar, downstairs. I'm not sure, as I was quite taken with the interior:


Glamour Bar on the Bund, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Lovely pix Josephine, really took me back! The Peace Hotel Chinese resto is as wonderful architecturally as you show.

Here's one funny note: several times when my students were off to study in the US, I took them to the Western resto in the Peace Hotel, just so that they could see what eating out in the 'West' was like, replete with knife, fork and spoon. Used to be a lovely (but languid) jazz group there, elegant old men, who obviously learned their art loonnnng before the Cultural Revolution.

Keep up your great work, J!

Geo

Geo- unfortunately, no sign of the old man band the night we were there! And thanks for the kind words.

My husband reminded me of the name of the Chinese Restaurant in the Peace Hotel. It is Dragon Phoenix. (I guess that accounts for some of the beasts on the gilded ceiling.) I found this photo of a piece of promotional material I picked up there. Dim Sum might be a nice way to experience this restaurant.


Dim Sum Daily @ Dragon Phoenix by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Art Deco Era Theater, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr

CrazyC wrote:1.) Old Jesse - Good food... But IMO, overpriced. It would be a great place if it was in the US. But it was very pricey by China standards. It may take a while, but when you are paying USD$1 for 4 Xiao Yang Shen Jian Baos for lunch and then $30 a head for dinner, you may feel the same way too! It is very easy to think "Wow! What a deal! Only $30 for that amount of food!" but a few days later, you would be scratching your head!

Dmnkly wrote:I'm with CrazyC on quality. It's a very good restaurant. It isn't one of those ones you sit back and marvel at, but everything's really carefully done, and the flavors are really spot on, if very conservatively presented. I have fewer issues with price performance, though I don't doubt you can eat almost as well elsewhere for considerably less scratch. I thought it was worthwhile. And a very appropriate start.

TonyC wrote:Old Jesse -- MOTHEREFFER, THE PRICES! US120 for 3. It's nice, but never, ever, ever again.

Back in Shanghai for about a week, I was able to do a few excursions (though not nearly at the pace that Dmnkly achieved during his brief visit chronicled upthread.) My goals centered on further exploration of the street food scene; these will require separate threads. But, to continue reflecting here, I began my visit with two questions about Shanghai cuisine. First, what is all the fuss is about when people talk about Shanghai cooking being overly sweet? Second, what sorts of dishes represent the refinement that Shanghaianese value in their cuisine?

Truth be told, I had no plan to visit Old Jesse. But, as these things tend to unfold, I found myself standing at their door one lovely morning while looking for the Shikumen House Museum in Xintiandi. Forewarned about the prices, I nevertheless felt that it could be important to find the very best representative of Red-braised Pork in town. I was not disappointed. Unfortunately, my better pictures of the meal disappeared in one of the subway security screening machines I passed through. However, I did manage to snap a couple of iPhone pics as insurance.

Although it was a tall order to make much headway on such a rich dish as a solo diner, I am glad I took the plunge. After a very simple dish of sauteed, crisp Nanjiang Vegetable with Tofu Shreds and some excellent, (reasonably priced!) Crab XLB, I was ready for the pork dish. To describe it as sweet may be technically accurate, but it somehow misses the point. While the first impression is that of sweetness, almost instantly, the sweetness yields to the bitterness of deep caramelization, anchored in the soy umami. All of these tastes form a whole that is quite well integrated, so the the sweetness does not dominate. When something is unpleasantly sweet, the sweetness dominates the other tastes and masks the other attributes of the dish. This was emphatically not the case with Old Jesse's version of "Grandma" Pork. The sweetness tended to disappear as an impression after the first moments.

Regarding texture, I found the pork itself to be substantially more meaty than I expected, having heard this dish described only in terms of the melting fat of the belly. I can't say that I took more than two pieces of the belly fat- it was just too rich. However, it was pleasant and not at all rubbery, completely infused with the deep brown sauce. I would like the whole experience to a rich barbeque experience, minus the smoke. Just excellent. However, there remains one question about the dish that perhaps others reading this can answer: What is the knotted bit grasped in the chopsticks? It was soft and yielding, with no particular chew, and had a kind of regular pattern, as if woven. At first I thought maybe a bit of dishrag had found its way into the pot by accident, but examination revealed that there were several of these pieces. My guess would be that this is chitterling, but chitterlings are slippery; how could anyone knot them like this? Also- zero chitterling funk. I leave it to all of you to suggest the answer.


Old Jesse's Grandma Pork by Josephine2004, on Flickr

A tip from Jamie Barys of Untours, Shanghai at culinarybackstreets.com led me to Guan Ming Cun in the French Concession. Guan Ming Cun is a highly popular lunch destination with four floors that offer three settings for dining.


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The first floor is devoted to takeout, and is jammed. Their thick-skinned, spongy shenjian bao's appear to be the big draw, along with their BBQ. The long line yields to a merely crowded second floor level, where one must perch to snag a table, while standing in line to order. This being impractical for a solo diner, I headed up the the third level, where there is seating in the waiting area and white tablecloth service. Though no English is spoken, the smiling staff were tolerant of my iPhone phrase app Mandarin, if amused. The wait led to a pleasant interchange with much gesturing between me and a woman about my age, her husband, and companions. They pointed out the Shanghai specialties they thought I should order, steering me away from the non-Shanghai dishes. They also advocated for me with the hostess, when they saw that I was not given a chit to hold my place in line. Very nice folks. They appeared to concur with Jamie that the dish to order was the Soy Duck, a cold dish.


Cold Duck Shanghai Style by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The duck was a counterpart of Old Jesse's Grandma Pork, if minimally fatty. The sauce, I would say, was quite similar, with sweetness only one aspect of its complexity. The duck itself was moist, unctuous, and tender. Outstanding. Something I will remember for quite some time. With the duck, the locals suggested the shenjianbao's which were nothing to write home about. The soup also did not wow me. However, these spring rolls, filled with a mild yet flavorful flaky white fish and fresh coriander (mistranslated on the menu as "caraway") were outstanding. Their delicacy gave me an idea about the refinement that Shanghai cuisine is noted for:


Fish Spring Rolls, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr

If you go, note that the second floor menu is devoted to snack foods, the third floor to a wide-ranging menu with English translations, and the fourth floor has private rooms that need to be reserved ahead of time. The restaurant has an elevator, though technically, it is not accessible since there are steps up to the first floor to gain access to the elevator.

Guang Ming Cun
588 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Danshui Lu
海中路588号, 近淡水路
+86 21 5306 7878

新吉士酒楼(新天地店)
Xinjishi Xintiandi Shanghai
卢湾区太仓路181弄2号新天地北里9号楼(近马当路)
Unit 4, Bldg 9, Lane 169 Taicang Lu, Xintiandi, Luwan District, Shanghai 6336-4746
http://www.xinjishi.com

Post Script: Old Vs. New Shanghai

From the window of the upstairs loo at Old Jesse, I noticed this:


Chairman of Bottled Beers? by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Later in the week, we would encounter multiple promotions for Budweiser at various restaurants, going head-to-head with Tsing Dao. Globalization, what a concept! Here's another one from the French Concession:


Coals to Newcastle? by Josephine2004, on Flickr

And this appears to be the new model for a Shanghai food truck:


Food Truck, French Concession by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I'm gonna miss these guys:


Sweet Potato Vendor, Beijing by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Let's hope that not everything about Old Shanghai changes. I give the lane houses a 50-50 chance for the next year, at least.


Lane Houses and Laundry by Josephine2004, on Flickr

An unplanned layover at PVG allowed a few welcome hours of sampling soup-filled stuff around Shanghai. I mainly consulted this thread and the Jing Theory post for last-minute guidance, so thanks to everyone who contributed here.

The first stop was Jia Jia Tang Bao. These crab and pork dumplings were easily the best bites of food sampled over two weeks in China. It starts off with a rush of fresh crab from the broth and finishes off with succulent pork in the filling.

The pork-only dumplings at Jia Jia were excellent, better than any I’ve sampled anywhere in the States, but these were anemic compared to the crab and pork version and the pan-fried version of soup dumplings across the street at Xiao Yang’s.

At first I doubted that there was any broth in the shen jian bao at Xiao Yang’s because the folds were in the bottom and heavily browned from pan frying. How could any liquid possibly stay inside? One bite into the thick and chewy skin and it all made sense. The soup inside was heavy with gelatin, fat and porkiness.

I chose Fu Chun for another helping of XLB. The place was packed and I had high hopes but the dumplings were quite disappointing, in that 2 out of 6 were drained courtesy of large gashes on the side. I understand how delicate these things are but that’s just sloppy. Even with the fully intact dumplings, the crab flavor in both soup and filling was weak and inconsistent. Some dumplings barely had any hint of crab in it. There is no comparison to Jia Jia and I wouldn’t bother going here again.

Almost every table at Fu Chun had a serving of breaded pork cutlet, Chinese tonkatsu if you will. You’ll know what everyone else is ordering if you plan on taking a seat because you’ll need to hover around the dining area and elbow grandma to get a table. You need to pay first, get a seat, show the receipt, and only then will they start your order. Anyway, the pork cutlet is a standard piping hot tonkatsu. Good enough to save an otherwise disappointing meal.

Thanks to Kyle Long, my guide to Shanghai's noodles in 2012, I just added a new destination to my Shanghai list, Sichuan's answer to birria, served up by a former national volleyball champion. The fatty big-ear goats that go into the soup have a pedigree, too, that supposedly goes back to Soong Mei-Ling, Madame Chiang Kai-shek's importation of Nubian goats into China. Looks like they have the Zaragoza two-options approach to the goat as well: Kyle writes, "Opt for a bowl (羊肉汤, yángròu tāng), with a handful of cilantro thrown in to zest it up, or try the larger hotpot version (羊肉汤锅, yángròu tāngguō), which has a variety of veggies and noodles floating about." I can't wait!

Shanghai Night Market: Sipailou Lu & Fangbang Lu

As Dmnkly demonstrated with his heroic efforts upthread, early morning is a good time to sample Shanghai's street food. By night, most visitors frequent the glittering parts of the city. We sipped cocktails one evening at the top of the Sofitel, taking in this view:


Untitled by Josephine2004, on Flickr

But Shanghai at night has humbler charms as well, such as this tableau of a woman selling cabbages from a flatbed truck.


Cabbage Vendor, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I met my frequent guide to Shanghai, Kyle Long of UnTours at the northeast corner of the intersection of Shouning Lu and Xizang Nan Lu. His plan took us through the adjacent night markets of Sipailou Lu and Fangbang Lu, (mentioned upthread by TonyC and Dmnkly.) Sipailou Lu was packed with Chinese tour groups jostling each other and running the gauntlet of street cooks hawking their wares. Standing aside to let one such group pass, I was nudged aside by one frustrated merchant, who seemed to think I was not entitled to space beside her table as long as I was not buying.


Sipailou Lu Night Market by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I was surprised to see da bing at night.


Da Bing, Sipailu Lu by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Most of the offerings were "greatest hits," such as this stinky tofu. This was a comfort to me after the insect-heavy menu at the Beijing Night Market, which had sent me scurrying last winter.


Stinky Tofu Vendor - Sipailu Lu by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Ready to Cook, Sipailou Lu by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Dumplings, Sipailou Lu by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Sipailou Lu Night Market by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Sugar Fruits on Sipailou Lu by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The odor of shellfish on this popular street was nothing short of rank. But Kyle led me into a small shellfish eatery where he is known to the proprietors, and where he has had good luck with the heavily garlic-encrusted broiled oysters and scallops on the shell, the boiled crayfish, and the skewers of vegetables. (Most of my pics from that evening disappeared in a subway security machine, but fortunately, I took these with my cell phone.)


Seafood, Sipailu Lu by Josephine2004, on Flickr


All Manner of Seafood to Grill by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Filled with seafood and beer, we made our way toward Fangbang Lu, a comparatively quiet street at that time of night. We took in the homey scenes of families and children winding down the evening's work, or stopping, as below, for a snack of puffed rice. The new city is remarkably close by, suggesting that Fangbang Lu, too, will soon disappear, as will most of Shanghai's lane houses.


Fangbang Lu Vendor by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Family Scene, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Shanghai Night Market 1 by Josephine2004, on Flickr

A woman at this store tried to interest me in a branch of sugar cane, which puzzled me. What was I to do with it?


Sugar Cane, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Shanghai Night Market 3 by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The following day was International Women's Day, celebrated in Shanghai with shoe shopping (I witnessed this) and the purchase of prepared food. Here are some ducks at the ready.


Ducks Fangbang Lu by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Shanghai Night Market 2 by Josephine2004, on Flickr

We passed on these noodles in favor of Kyle's favorite purveyor, who made a fresh batch for us:


Noodles, Sipailu Lu by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Kyle told me that this merchant, like many in Shanghai, is a migrant from the south who does not have official resident status. As such, his children are not eligible for school enrollment in the city. His family remains in their home province and he visits them at New Year. (For those of you who have not seen it, the documentary The Last Train Home by Lixin Fan depicts the life of rural migrants in China's cities and the rush to return home for New Year celebrations. Highly recommended.)


Noodle Chef and Helper by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Noodle Chef with Hot Wok by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The noodles were very simple, with soy, salt, sugar, oil and scallion. We took them to a Hui Muslim noodle shop and ate them beside a bowl of lamb soup with noodles hand-pulled before our eyes. I never tire of watching that magic.


Noodles, Shanghai Night Market by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Hui Soup with Noodles, Shanghai by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Once again, Kyle helped me feel as if I had visited Shanghai with a local LTH-er, perhaps someone with a joint degree in Chinese and sociology. Note the scissors he wields here to cut the very long noodles into manageable lengths.


Kyle Long- UnTours with Noodles by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I can't get enough of Shanghai.

As always, your posts, Josephine, leave me all but fainting with longing to see more of China. Haven't been to Shanghai yet, but it's now on the list. (Along with Yunnan.) Thanks, as always, for the little "vacation" you afford with your stories and photos.

These threads are the best, total vicarious guilty pleasure

AlekH wrote:These threads are the best, total vicarious guilty pleasure

Talk about motivation to get to Shanghai - continued great stuff Josephine!

It was bound to happen. American Chinese in Shanghai. Check it out:

http://shanghaiist.com/2013/09/02/fortu ... ice_of.php

I'll need a good zinger from TonyC to cap this post. Tony? Tony?

The non-Kaifeng Jews in Shanghai need somewhere to go on Xmas? I know at least one (Chinese) food obsessed from LA who'd be extremely interested in this.

Seriously though, all the power to these Cornell dudes. If they can make rich Shanghaiers pay USD$13 for fried rice, they're going to be millionaires. Their chutzpah and sense of irony ought to be appreciated, but I, of course, hope they fail miserably. The whole enterprises demands a massive dose of schadenfreude.