Feast In Shanghai

I had been anticipating our trip to Shanghai for several months. It would be my first visit to China, and I was excited to try as much Chinese food as possible. Unfortunately, we arrived several hours after our arrival time due to China Eastern’s inability to leave on time. Thankfully, Mana kept me positive even though I was hangry.

We decided to keep our explorations near our hotel because of how late it was, so we went to a nearby night market. Unfortunately, it was the middle of the week and there weren’t any vendors, but we were able to get a few skewers from a small restaurant inside a mall. We ordered gluten, mushroom, and lamb skewers. Despite not having much on each skewer, we were actually satisfied with each one. They were all full of flavor and texture.

After we ate, we decided to walk around and see what was around the neighborhood. That is when I saw a restaurant selling Shanghai breakfast, and I couldn’t walk past. I begged Mana to stop inside because Shanghai breakfast was the number one meal I wanted to try. We had dou jiang (hot soy milk), dou fu nao (which is soft tofu in a light broth), you tiao (a fried dough that you dip into the soy milk) and ci fan taun (a rice roll that can be filled with what you choose). The meal was better than I had imagined. The soy milk wasn’t watery; it was very smooth and light. The fried dough wasn’t very sweet, but it complemented the soy milk and absorbed it without getting very soggy. The tofu melted in my mouth, and the broth was surprisingly flavorful and tasted even better when my Mana added chili oil. The rice roll surprised me the most because I wasn’t expecting a lot of flavor from it, but there were several layers of different ingredients. We couldn’t figure out what they used, but there were some sweet and sour vegetables and salty meat. Each bite was a new flavor that kept us eating. All of this and a mildly sweet herbal tea for less than $4 USD.

The next day we went to a restaurant that was known for its noodles, but we didn’t limit ourselves to just that. We wanted to try as much as possible, so we ordered xiang qin dan gan (marinated hard-boiled egg slices), yan shui ya (steamed or boiled salty duck) and Jinpai hai xian mian (seafood noodle soup). Our food didn’t look like it would go together, but the flavors balanced each other very well. The egg slices were mild and were like a palate cleanser. It balanced the saltiness of the duck meat, which was also tender and juicy. The meat fell off the bone and right into my salivating mouth. The duck doesn’t look very pretty, but you shouldn’t let that deter you from trying it. Last, we had the seafood noodle soup, which was my favorite. The broth was milky, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was delicious. You can taste the crab, the base of the broth, but I don’t know what other seasonings they used. It was mild, but it wasn’t a soup you would get tired of eating, and we didn’t feel heavy after eating it. Also, they gave us 5 whole shrimp, so we left more than satisfied.

Later that night, Mana wanted a snack, so we bought chou dou fu (stinky tofu). I know a lot of people say that the smell is awful, but it didn’t smell bad to me, and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to try new food. I thought it tasted great! The tofu was firm, and the broth was slightly spicy, sour, and salty. Mana wasn’t that impressed because she said she had better, but I loved it. I will definitely try this again. I was still feeling adventurous, and I decided to try Dove durian chocolate. That was a mistake. It tasted like white chocolate with onion filling, and I couldn’t finish it. The filling tasted completely different from fresh durian, which I tried later and actually liked.

We met with Mana’s childhood friends the next day and had dinner together. They ordered more food than we could eat, but my favorites were the li yu jiang ya (marinated duck) it tasted sweet and salty, duo jiao yu tou (Steamed fish with salted chilies over noodles) despite being spicy I was able to eat it and the fish was seasoned all the way through to the bone, and mo cha bai yu (matcha tofu) dessert tofu that was slightly sweet with a very smooth texture. For dessert, they wanted ice cream, which I can never pass up, so we went to Häägen Dazs. Not very Chinese, but ice cream is delicious everywhere.

On our last full day to ourselves, we visited the Shanghai Muslim Market. It’s only opened on Fridays, and it seemed like it was winding down by the time we got there, but there were still many food stalls open. I wanted to try their baozi and jiaozi because I prefer beef over pork, and I wasn’t disappointed. The nui rou baozi (beef baozi) was crunchy on the outside and juicy in the middle. The nui rou jiaozi had a thick, crispy outside with a tender filling similar to the baozi. We also tried the lamb skewers and the meat was tender and well seasoned. If we had stayed another week, we would have gone back to eat more.

We found more baozi at a famous bao restaurant near the river. When we tasted their baozi we knew why there was a line. I haven’t had a wide array of baozi, but the flavor was well balanced and very juicy on the inside, which my shirt found out rather soon, but I’m not bitter. We couldn’t get a to-go-box, so we’ll have to live on the memory of the best baozi we’ve ever had.

On our last day in China, we went outside of Shanghai to visit Mana’s best friend. Her husband made us hot-pot, but without using water. It was a no-broth hot pot that used the water from the ingredients to cook everything, but the main ingredient was the Chinese mitten crab from Yang Cheng Lake. The crabs were very sweet and juicy and were the best part of the hot pot. Definitely the best crab I’ve ever had.

There is so much to eat in Shanghai, and we’ve only scratched the surface of Shanghai cuisine, but thanks to Mana, we were able to feast in Shanghai.