马兰头香干 Minced Tofu and Vegetables

Pinyin: mǎ lán tóu xiāng gān

A classic Shanghainese style dish. Tofu, and a green vegetable minced together, throw in a bit of sesame oil, and presto, a pretty decent vegetarian dish is created.

Every time I've had this it's always been served cold, and is one of the first things out on the table. Also most of the time they serve it molded into some shape, either a cup or some fancy bowl.

It's quite a kick to actually watch somebody mince vegetables. I've often seen young chefs standing outside of a restaurant with a big plastic bowl full of vegetables and two butcher knifes just whacking away at the vegetables in the bowl. Seems to work better than a blender, lol.

Oh ya BTW, this is one of the few vegetables I haven't figured out the English name for. It's something that's native to Shanghai, but that's about everything I know about it.

蒜泥白肉 Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce

Pinyin: Suàn Né Bái Ròu

What a salt filled delightful dish, an American meat eaters dream come true. Sliced steamed pork, served cold, almost like cold cuts for a sandwich. The dipping sauce is what really makes it great though. It's simply sesame oil, salt, and minced garlic. Combined together it fully flavors the pork and is one of my favorite dishes to have on a Friday or Saturday night with friends while drinking a beer or two, damn salt and beer go together so well.

I've never seen this anywhere aside from the local Shanghainese restaurant that I frequent, but it's certainly easy enough to reproduce at home if you ever felt so inclined.