My Shanghai That’s Shanghai

It was raining all day yesterday in Shanghai. So nasty. Too wet and cold to go anywhere.

Even worse. I didn’t have any food left in my apartment. So I decided to order some pizza online.

Thank God. I still have the Internet connection. Read More…

When the weather is getting colder, I am just craving for Beijing Roasted duck. The fat, the crispy skin and the rich sauce, mmm…… feel so good in the cold winter!

Quan Ju De is my favourite place to have Beijing roasted duk. I know there are some others in Shanghai, for example: Yan Yun Lou, which is the Shanghai brand for Beijing Roasted Duck and also very well known in Shanghai. But I just feel Quan Ju De is better. Read More…

Eric, my California friend kept telling me how good Carl’s Jr at Raffles City was for two months. But I just didn’t feel like to go because:

- first of all, I am not a fan of burgers or sandwiches.

- second, The basement food floor at Raffles is a nightmare, always millions of people there, crowded, chaotic and noisy. Read More…

If you have been to Shanghai, you will know how much Shanghainese love pan fried dumplings. And if you ask any Shanghainese for recommendation, the top brand must be Yang’s! Whenever you pass Wujiang Road, there is always a long queue in front of this small yet shabby store at the corner, where Yang started his very first pan fried dumpling restaurant.

But recently a post in a local BBS put Yang’s dumplings into a serious trouble. The post said he was seriously sick after eating Yang’s famous dumplings. And then he went back to Yang’s restaurant and bought a few more and sent those to local food inspection bureau. The report then told the meat used in Yang’s dumpling was questionable. Read More…

Wendy and I had a lunch at Xing Hua Lou in Fuzhou Road today. To be honest, I’ve never been there after living in Shanghai for five years. But I do know Xing Hua Lou is famous for it moon cakes.

‘Xing Hua Lou(means Apricot Flower House) is one of the oldest Cantonese restaurants in Shanghai (established in 1874). It has been awarded China Time-honored Brand in Shanghai by Ministry of Internal Trade.’ Read More…

By entering the autumn, the shell of the crayfish becomes harder and the meat becomes hard and chewy. So the best time for crayfish (summer) is over, now it is the time for crab!

The crab Shanghainese love is called Hairy Crab, which is  from the fresh water (lake or river), not the sea. So it is much smaller than the sea crabs. Those crabs usually have hairs on their crawls as its name indicated. Read More…

Yesterday when I passed Banana Leaf in 96 Plaza in Pudong, I noticed a big notice on its wall saying: we only have 3 branches in Shanghai, any other restaurants under the name of Banana Leaf are not authorised by us. Then I remembered one day I passed another very similar restaurant in Raffles City at the People’s Square called very much like Banana Leaf something. So does this mean the one in Raffles City is Shan Zhai (fake)?

Today I told this to some of my colleagues and it seems everybody knows that the one in Raffles City is fake because the food there were not good! My colleagues told me if I pay a bit more attention, I will find their names are similar but different. Read More…

In China, KFC is doing much better than McDonalds or Burger King. Some people said this is because that Chinese prefer chicken rather than beef. This might be one of the reasons. Another reason might be KFC really made something which accommodate locate taste.

KFC in Shanghai

You will find lots of items which are only availabe in Chinese KFC menu. For example: Beef Wrap, which is shreded beef in Sichuan hot and spicy sauce wrapped in a Mexican Tortillas  together with lettuce, tomato etc. So it has the Chinese taste: shredded meat with Chinese flavour and also has the western features, wrap, lettuce etc. This makes KFC not just appealing to young Chinese but also to the senior. Read More…

It seems that more and more people fell in love with hot and spicy cuisines around the world. You can find lots of hot spicy restaurants in Shanghai and basically they can be grouped into three by regions.

Southwest part of China is renown for its hot spicy cuisine and the representatives are three provinces: Sichuan, Hunan and Yunnan. But what are the differences among those three?

Sichuan Cuisine
Sichuan ( also spell as Szechuan cuisine is not only hot but also uses a special spice which is an unique identity of Sichuan. It is Sichuan peppercorn. In addition to its special delicate aroma, it can also make your tongue feel numbed. By adding the peppercorn, it even makes the original dish hotter. So people either love it or hate it.

Hunan Cuisine
The basic taste of Hunan Cuisine is salty and hot. Unlike Sichuan cuisine, it doesn’t use Sichuan peppercorn often in the cooking. So people who love hot food but hate Sichuan peppercorn will become huge fans of Hunan cuisine.

Yunnan Cuisine
The special taste of Yunnan cuisine is sour and spicy hot. They like use pickles or preserved tomatoes to give the dish sour flavour. Geographicly Yunnan province is in subtropical area and its cuisine is more like Thailand or Vietnam.