培根高丽菜 Stir Fried Cabbage and Bacon

Pinyin: péi gēn gāo lì cài

The first smell and first bite of this dish were quite amazing. The cabbage was cooked but still crunchy and best of all it was coated in lovely tasty bacon grease. The pieces of bacon were a nice touch and gave me something to look forward to. In fact this dish was a surprising treat and I thoroughly enjoyed it. One thing to remember about this dish however is that once it becomes cold it just ain't as good.

沙茶牛肉 Tea Boiled Beef

Pinyin: shā chá niú ròu

Where's the beef? Well in China you shouldn't really be asking that question cause once you find it, you'll be disappointed. Chinese beef is overly saturated with tenderizer and usually comes from poor quality cattle stock and is usually a poor cut. I generally avoid it.

This dish of beef, mushrooms, broccoli and onions should have been avoided. Overall the taste was tolerable, the onions were the best part, the beef as expected was a severe disappointment. I believe the soup like broth was flavored with tea powder, which works well in drinks and some things, but tends to make food taste a bit bland and washed out in my opinion. I see little reason why someone might go back and order this dish, I certainly won't be.

臭豆腐 Stinky Tofu

Pinyin: chòu dòu fǔ

A common street food in Shanghai that you may not be able to see, but you can certainly smell from a mile away. The premise behind the dish is that the tofu has been aged much like say brie cheese. The moldy tofu is then deep fried and served. Dipping sauce, almost always spicy and often times sweet is provided. When served on the street it cost a couple of Kuai for about four pieces, restaurants are of course more expensive.

The key to this dish lies in the name though, because it is stinky, stinky and nasty smelling is more accurate. Think rotting gym socks, or boiling sewage, or very strong well aged cheese. If you aren't careful and can ruin your appetite. Shanghai locals rave over the stuff, in my opinion it's just OK. If you are in Shanghai it's a must at least once, but eat it fast and then get it off the table so you can enjoy the rest of your meal.

石烤虾 Sweet and Sour Shrimp Skewers

Pinyin: shí kǎo xiā

Pure ecstasy on a stick. Nice large whole tiger prawns that have been roasted on a stick while being bathed in sweet and sour sauce composed of tomatoes, pineapples and various other delicious spices in a very Yunnan food style makes my mouth water just thinking about it. The waiter brought out a dozen of them and I could hardly control myself knowing that six of those juicy morsels were mine.

The tangy flavors in the sauce hit the pallet wonderfully as you were tearing their heads off with your teeth. Interestingly enough you just eat the skin rather than spitting that part out. Just chew thoroughly, it ends up being way easier and tastier than de-skinning them. If shrimp is your thing, and you crave sweet and sour, it's totally impossible to go wrong with this dish.

笋干老鸭煲 Slow Cooked Bamboo with Duck

Pinyin: sǔn gān lǎo yā bāo

Bamboo is such a very Chinese thing, from pandas to chopsticks it seems as though everything can be made from bamboo. There are a thousand different ways to eat bamboo, but this slow cooked bamboo with duck is one of the best I've discovered. The aroma is full flavored with hints of savory duck wafting up from the steam. The bamboo is soft yet still crunchy making it just the perfect texture to satisfy. The broth itself is sweet yet salty and bursting with flavors from the duck and bamboo. This dish is special, it must be simmered for long hours before ripening, but it is worth the effort. Find a local Yunnan style restaurant and be sure to give this dish a try, your taste buds will thank you.

白切肚头 Pork Stomach with Soy Sauce

Pinyin: Bái Qiē Dù Tóu

Startling in its appearance I was surprised that this dish actually tasted not bad. Warning bells usually go off in my head when people start talking about eating internal organs, but I'll give most things a try. The meat was actually served chilled, not just room temperature and soy sauce was provided for dipping. The meat was tender albeit the texture was a bit odd, but it tasted clean, a little like ham but definitely not overwhelming. I kept going back for more throughout the meal as it provided some nice contrast to the other dishes. I can't say I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't avoid it either.

海蜒花生米 Peanuts with Spicy Anchovy Oil

Pinyin: hǎi yán huā shēng mǐ

Peanuts a simple food, yet add some spicy oil and a dash of dried fish and you've created a rather tasty Chinese appetizer. The spicy oil added most of the flavor and I'd swear they mixed in a fair bit of white pepper that really livened up the first dish on the table. The peanuts were roasted till they were crunchier than normal which I've become a fond of. As with any dish involving lots of peanuts it always goes better with beer and I think that is doubly true for this one since you'll want something to quench that burning sensation tingling your mouth alive.

豆腐干芹菜 Tofu and Celery Stir Fry

Pinyin: Dòu Fu Gān Qín Cài

A combination crunchy and stringy with mushy almost makes me feel like this dish is half chewed when it enters my mouth, but with that in mind I still like it and think it is worth talking about. The celery that you see here is actually Chinese celery which is a skinny counterpart to the more common variety found in the west. It tastes a little richer and ends up being less stringy than your standard celery. The dish is quite simple using a dried firm tofu and stir frying it with celery. A dash of red peppers are thrown in to add color, the dish is kept light and tasty, the flavors of the tofu and celery are really allowed to come out and make quite a nice combo. It's an all veggie dish, and is simple enough to be made at home so it really has a lot of potential.

湖南香干 Special Hunan Tofu

Pinyin： hú nán xiāng gān

Chances are you'll only find this at a Hunan food restaurant obviously enough, though it is very similar to 家常豆腐 Homestyle Tofu, which I previously talked about. In the Hunan style though this dish is focused more on being spicy and less on variety of ingredients.

You can see that it is quite simply pieces of tofu, peppers, scallions and you can't see that they've also added pieces of pork fat for flavor. The tofu used as the primary ingredient is quite unique in flavor. It really reminds me of fermented tofu. It has some earthy undertones about it that lead me to believe it isn't fresh. It also has a slightly tough and chewy skin that appears as though it was fried. It adds nicely to the texture but at the same time the tofu isn't oily.

The spiciness from the peppers isn't overpowering, they provide just enough strength to tingle your sense but not enough to have you reaching for a cold drink. Together with the peppers and the fat from the pork this tofu comes alive and I've been regularly ordering it for the past several weeks.

Hotpot Season is upon us, Nan Hua Hotpot (南华火锅)

At 7:00pm on a Sunday night all three floors of this sleek looking restaurant were packed. The modern industrial steel and granite motif works nicely in the space, and the bright lights and high ceilings mean smoke isn't a problem. The place was alive with conversation and wait staff hurriedly shuffled between tables bringing out food and drinks. If loud dining isn't your thing try to book a private room.

The soup pot arrived in good time and the rest of the food arrived promptly after. I recommend the split bowl with spicy soup on one side and regular on the other, the spicy side can be a bit much at times. The actual food was extremely fresh, in fact some of it was still taking their last breaths on the table (one of the perils of eating with a local I guess). Iced tofu (冻豆腐) is one of my favorites dishes, the lamb was likewise tasty, the winter melon and potatoes served as nice vegetables for the night. I really could have done without the pig brains though, at least portions were large and varied.

Out of all the hot pot places in Shanghai, this one stands out. It's clean, has a nice modern atmosphere, it's crowded so the food is always fresh, and the waiters and waitresses are plentiful and responsive. If you are in the ZhongShan Park area it is a must try, plan on spending about 50rmb per person.

addr: 858 LouShanGuan Rd (娄山关路858号)
tel: 5206-2777

I've Been a Bad Blogger

Well I've been a bad blogger. I've blog faded and haven't posted anything for several months. So sorry about that, hope you can forgive me. Things are changing though and I'll be back to posting rather regularly if all goes well.

I host all my pictures on my Flickr site. Unfortunately if you are anywhere in China you can't see my Flickr pictures. I recommend that you use Firefox and download the Access Flickr plugin and you'll be able to see all Flickr pictures regardless of viewing my blog or not.