法式蛋卷 Chocolate Covered Meat Floss Sushi

Pinyin: fǎ shì dàn juàn


This dish was a calculated risk and I gotta say we came out on the losing side. My interest was piqued and then the waitress told me that the brown sauce was chocolate I couldn't resist. I wanted to know how scrambled egg, meat flosh, cucumber, and chocolate combined to make a sushi like appetizer. The answer unsurprisingly was not very well at all. Meat floss in any dish is always a bit awkward, it's a bit sweet, but also a bit savory, it's meat but doesn't feel like meat, very strange stuff indeed. It wasn't helped at all by the chocolate.

No worries though for the average diner, I'm guessing that only this one tucked away restaurant in Jing'An District in Shanghai serves this dish. The real moral of this story is that you should try new and interesting things, including food, even when they might not seem all that great. There's always a chance you'll be pleasantly surprised. This wasn't one of them, but maybe I'll have better luck next time.

香辣八爪鱼 Sweet and Spicy Octopus

Pinyin: xiāng là bā zhuǎ yú


I love octopus and this was a surprisingly great dish. It was sweet but not startling sweet like your average sweet and sour dish, and it wasn't sour it was spicy and balanced nicely against the sweetness.

The chef added sauteed onions which I always love and add great flavor. Also added were mushrooms of varying varieties that are another one of my favorites. Me and my dining partner were both sort of surprised that the octopus in the dish were absolutley huge and you can see that in the picture here to some extent. Normally baby octopus are used and generally fit in your mouth in just a single bite, not the case here each piece was several bites.

As a fan of octopus I had to give this dish a try and I wasn't disappointed. The flavours were unique and fit my palate quite well. I think most people would like this dish once they get past the slightly odd sight of seeing tentacles in their food, which if you've been in China for any amount of time shouldn't be too hard.

年糕八爪鱼 Octopus and Rice Noodles

Pinyin: nián gāo bā zhuǎ yú

Visually it's hard to get a feel for what is going on here, so let me explain. The rectangular block shaped things are a sort of rice noodle called nian gao (年糕）, they remind me of rice dumplings. There are also bits of baby octopus, some peppers, scallions and a few other minor ingredients. The whole dish is cooked in a thick sweet brown sauce reminiscent of terriyaki sauce.

It's classic Shanghai style cooking. The rice noodles, the seafood, and the thick sweet brown sauce are all commonly associated with Shanghai style food. The combination works very well together, the sweetness of the sauce is counterbalanced by the thick noodles which also provide some unique texture while the octopus adds that seafood flavor and a meaty texture.

A real surprise find for me and I'll be searching out dishes of this nature in the future. I'd like to find more options with those rice noodles and I'm always a sucker for something sweet.

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.

京酱肉丝 Pork in Beijing Sweet Sauce

Pinyin: Jīng Jiàng Ròu Sī

This dish is practically made for fresh-off-the-boat Westerners. It's sweet and has a nice juicy sauce, the meat is just meat and isn't from strange parts of the pig's body, and the meat is sitting atop some pretty benign shallots.

However, on a regular basis, or even irregular basis I can't be eating this dish too often. It really is too sweet for my Chinese adjusted palate. I ended up eating most of the shallots and just a little of the meat.

To get an idea of what this dish tastes like, think Beijing Duck, just the poor man's version, pork no duck. That's basically what this amounts to, the taste is almost identical to Beijing Duck, without the duck, and without the funny little tortilla shells to wrap everything in.

芒果布丁 Mango Pudding

Pinyin: Máng Guǒ Bù Dīng

Who can say no to mangoes? I certainly can't and this mango pudding is mighty fine.

It might not be an entirely Chinese dish, it is however quite common in Shanghai, particularly at the Hong Kong style dessert shops.

It is served chilled and comes with a bit of sweet cream that can be poured over the top. The real chunks of mangoes give it that authentic feel. I highly recommend giving this dessert at least one try.

手播笋 Sweet Pickled Bamboo

Pinyin: Shǒu Buō Suǎn

China is known for their bamboo, it really does permeate all aspects of life and as pictured it permeates into food as well.

You are looking at pieces of bamboo that have been sweet pickled, or something pretty close to that. I ate this at a Shanghainese restaurant and I have reason to believe it is in fact a Shanghai food. As most Shanghai food goes, it is a little sweet. This isn't like an American sweet pickle though, it's not as sweet and of course the flavor is a bit different, better, honestly.

Served cold as an appetizer, you only eat the insides, the hearts, so to speak. Everything that you see in this picture, you don't eat. The stuff you are looking at is tough, and as soon as it is in your mouth you know it isn't for eating.

Oddly enough I went to the grocery store last night and found this same stuff for sale in the refrigerated section.

海鲜锅巴 Sweet and Sour Shrimp over Rice Cakes

Pinyin: Hǎi Xiān Guō Bā

Every once in awhile you run across one of those dishes that you just think to yourself "damn this is pretty good", well this is one of them!

I just recently got back from a trip to Wu Hu in Anhui province and I witnessed some old guys making these rice cakes. I didn't get to see the whole process, but it involved cool cook wear and lots of oil, so I was pretty excited to actually be eating them.

And I was delighted when they poured shrimp in sweet and sour sauce over these rice cakes to make this particular bit of Shanghai cuisine. The rice cakes remained pretty crisp throughout the meal and the sweet and sour wasn't too overpowering. I just wish there were more shrimp.

脆皮豆腐 Sweet and Sour Tofu

Pinyin: Cuì Pí Dòu Fǔ

This dish could almost be mistaken for American Chinese food, except that it's made of tofu and not meat.

It's the classic sweet and sour style, it's just that it uses chunks of tofu that have been battered and fried. The tofu isn't overpowering and it's a refreshing change to find a dish so close to the American imitation.

Seems kind of funny actually that the USA would imitate something made in China. It's the 180 degree opposite almost all the other times.