November, 2009

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30
Nov 09

Phat in Shanghai: Wanhangdu Wet Market

In Shanghai, taking a wrong turn down a random alley can be like falling down the rabbithole – you are instantly transported to a completely different world. The market at Wanhangdu and Huayang behind Zhongshan Park is a lot like this. Although its only a 20 minute bike ride away from the French Concession, it seems light years, and even centuries away. This is where I go when I want to experience the REAL Shanghai.

On Sunday, after a yum cha session, we hopped on our bikes and rode north on Jiangsu Lu until we hit the market. Wanhangdu Wet Market is crazy place and full of interesting characters and local flavor.

wanhangdu market
Shanghainese people are not exactly known for their overwhelming friendliness, but at the Wanhangdu Market, the sellers are super cool, joking with you and smiling for photos.

wanhangdu market
Your neighborhood record store.

wanhangdu market
Photos by Adrian Lai.

The market is a one-stop shop; farm-fresh vegetables, live fish, ready-made dumplings by the jin, and live chickens. I don’t recommend a trip to Wanhangdu market for animal lovers or the faint-at-heart – there is a lot of skinning and butchering going on. On the other hand, look – fresh mantou!

fresh mantou
We bought a couple of these – hot off the steamer – for just $0.40RMB a piece. With a cut of fresh pork belly from the butcher and a cucumber from one of the vegetable sellers, we were inspired to create our own Momofuku pork belly buns. Yum!

momofuku wannabe
A little slice of the East Village in Shanghai. Sam’s quick pickled cucumbers and my mom’s Hangzhou-style dong po pork belly wrapped up in a mantou with a smear of hoisin and some green onions.

steamed fish
We also bought a couple of fish ($3RMB each) to be steamed and served with green onions, ginger, and soy sauce. These guys proved to be to bony to eat though… next time I’ll try another kind of fish. Still beats paying over $300RMB for a fish at the Tong Chuan Market!

Wanhangdu Wet Market
Lane 1384 Wanhangdu Lu
at Huayang Lu
Shanghai

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30
Nov 09

Phat in Shanghai: Tong Chuan Lu Seafood Market

For a port city, Shanghai has let me down again and again with its seafood. Most of the fish markets I’ve seen around town are just pathetic – offering some sad looking shrimp and near-death fish. I had been really disappointed with the seafood offerings in this city until we joined Tom & Stella on a journey to the Tong Chuan Lu Seafood Market. From the French concession, the cab ride to the market in Northern Shanghai costs about $30RMB.


Tong Chuan Lu has an impressive array of live seafood; including octopus, conch, several varieties of clams, abalone, and of course – the famed Yangcheng Lake hairy crab. Luckily for us, its the last week of hairy crab season and the females are plump with roe. We stopped into a seafood stall to pick out some hairy-clawed friends.

tying
Once you pick out your hairy crabs, the vendor will hold its legs and claws together and tie it up expertly. It’s best to bring some local friends because the “laowai tax” definitely applies at the seafood market. Seafood is sold by the jin (500g) and some things are a much better deal than others. Our clams only cost $12RMB a jin, but a whole fish can cost around $300RMB (~$44USD)!! Pretty crazy considering I used to buy whole fresh fish in NYC Chinatown for just $7USD. Be careful of shifty vendors – some have remote controls to their scales, and they will jack up the weight on you.

After we loaded up on fresh seafood, we went around the corner to a restaurant called Tian Shang Lai and negotiated on a price for them to cook our recent purchases. The total came to $160RMB (~$23USD) for five of us – including a dish of greens and several bottles of beer.

mantis shrimp
Salt & pepper mantis shrimp. The same as what I had in Hong Kong, except these suckers were much smaller and pretty difficult to peel. Still tasty though.

crab with salty duck egg
Dungeoness crab with salty duck egg yolk sauce. This dish was absolutely fantastic, definitely my favorite of the night. The crab came covered in a sauce made with crab roe and salty duck egg yolk – a combination of flavors that is super rich and full of umami. I’m becoming a big fan of salty duck egg yolk sauce.

hairy crabs!
The main course – hairy crabs! These guys were simply steamed and served with a dish of sweet, gingery vinegar.

cracking open a hairy crab
Cracking open a hairy crab. You can tell the difference between male and female crabs by the shape of their undersides. The male has a triangle shaped flap, while the female has a smooth oval-shaped flap. To crack open a male, you pull back the triangle and pop the shell off. Rip out the air sacs and you are good to go.

male hairy crab
Hairy crab sperm. Man. This stuff is really weird, I have to admit. Its got the consistency of a glue stick but is quite tasty. The orange stuff is money! Better than the best uni you have ever had.

female hairy crab
Hairy crab roe. My favorite! The bright orange roe is flavorful and resembles the texture of a hard boiled egg yolk. Much easier to stomach than the the crab sperm.

An amazing end to the hairy crab season! Til next year!

Target Chinese has a great article on everything hairy crab.

Tong Chuan Lu Seafood Market
Tong Chuan Lu Haixian Shichang
Tong Chuan Lu at Caoyang Lu
Putuo, Shanghai

$
Tian Shang Lai Restaurant
436 Lan Xi Lu at Tong Chuan Lu
+86 52667877

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26
Nov 09

Thanksgiving in Shanghai

the plate
For me, Thanksgiving is all about waking up early to turn your bird in brine, stuffing yourself silly, and taking turkey naps. Sometimes with all the food on my plate I forget to count my blessings. But this year I have a lot to be thankful for – a sweet job, the dopest boyfriend, my wonderful family in San Francisco, my NYC ride or die crew, and of course, the new friends I’ve made here in Shanghai – especially those who throw an amazing Thanksgiving feast!

dinner
waiting.

the bird
The bird.

The sides
The sides.

pie!
The pies.

the leftovers
The best part – leftovers!

Thanks Jan & Crystal!
Thank you Jan & Crystal (and Sonia) for the most amazing turkey day ever!

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24
Nov 09

Phat in Shanghai: What’s for lunch?

lanzhou la mian
Lanzhou la mian. These hand-pulled noodle spots are all over Shanghai, easily distinguished by their blue signs with weird spaceship-looking buildings on them. Contrary to popular belief, your local noodle-pullers are not Uyghurs, but Hui Chinese from Lanzhou in Central China. They are Muslims and serve halal food. This is my favorite la mian dish, featuring a stir fry of leek and beef, yum! And only $10RMB (~$1.40USD)

custard buns
A trio of sweet custard steamed buns with a hot milk tea from your local cha chaan teng. Nice lil afternoon snack with the mans.

duck noodle
I like to order this duck noodle for lunch – tasty, filling, and only $18RMB (~$2.50USD)

beef brisket noodle
Local canto spot does a pretty good beef brisket noodle. No tendon, though.

xlb
There is a xiao long bao place just a block away from my office! 8pcs for $4RMB (~$0.60USD). These are pretty good too – wrapper is thin but soup is a bit greasy. Can’t eat this unless I have a big mug of very black tea and plenty of citrus to wash it down.

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24
Nov 09

I Love Arugula Lady

Eating out in Shanghai is really easy. No tip & tax? Dinner for $5USD? Too easy. So when I desire to feel the rush of accomplishment gained from cooking an inexpensive, healthy meal for myself with my own two hands, I pay a visit to our beloved “Arugula Lady” aka “Avocado Lady” aka “Basil Lady” on Wulumuqi Road.

arugula lady
Arugula lady is one smart cookie because she knows her laowai market. She’s always got stuff that the other vegetable sellers don’t – fresh basil, frisée, blocks of parmesan, and balls of fresh mozzarella for only $17RMB. Half the price and much better quality than FeiDan.

I picked up some veggies from her for a grand total of $18RMB (~$2.50USD), and with some ingredients in the kitchen, was able to whip up a lil somethin’ somethin’.

yum
Eggplant and Kabocha cooked simply with garlic.

tagliatelle with shiitake
Tagliatelle with shiitake mushrooms

And the next day I twisted things up a bit to make:
Kabocha Tagliatelle
Tagliatelle with kabocha & cream, porkchop with thyme

Don’t forget to hit up Arugula Lady when you brush the dust off your stoves!

Ms. Jiang Qin, “Arugula Lady”
274 Wulumuqi Lu at Wu Yuan Lu
+86 6437 7262

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24
Nov 09

Phat in Shanghai: Franck

Sometimes after clogging your arteries with grease for weeks at Tsui Wah or eating “unknown meat” chaunr on the cheap, you gotta treat yourself to a nice meal. With silverware.

Ado and I decided to try out Franck, a cute little French brasserie around the corner from us in the quaint Ferguson Lane complex. Two things:

1. Great food!
2. A-S-S-H-O-L-E service.

First they tried to seat us in the dark – you literally had your food by the light of a single votive candle on the table. I just don’t trust restaurants that try to serve you food in the dark. I mean, even the dodgy la mian spots turn on the lights so you can see what you’re eating! After requesting to be reseated, we were moved to an area with better lighting – but also asshole service. ASSHOLE SERVICE.

First of all, Franck is quite casual, with an atmosphere very much like Walter Foods, or El Almacén in Brooklyn (but with cheesier artwork on the walls). Yet they still insist on displaying the menu in only French. Wow.. pretentious much? I understand this is brasserie style, but shit, half the people in Shanghai don’t even know what a “HAMBURGER” is, let alone a pot-au-feu. (its beef stew, and YES i googled it.) Would have been nice for our server to pipe up and explain the menu, but no offer was made, we had to ask. And when we did, our dear server looked at us incredulously, as if we were a pair of trucker-hat wearing hillbillies reeking of B.O. I’m not sure if that’s the attitude Franck trains its employees to have, but it was really rude and condescending. Our lovely server continued to impart his vast knowledge of wine upon us and even scoff at our selections, remarking, “are you kidding me?” When we asked him to take our order, he replied with, “I’m not going to take your order. I don’t take orders for anybody.” What. a. fucking asshole.

franck's steak
At least the steak made up for it. We enjoyed a charcuterie (THAT’S A COLD CUT PLATTER, NON-FRENCH PEOPLE!!!!) plate with a good variety of meats and cheeses, then followed up with this bad boy.

franck's steak
A porterhouse for two, served up medium rare. Although the service was atrocious, I really did enjoy this steak. It was flavorful, perfectly cooked, and well seasoned, but unfortunately poorly trimmed. A lot of sinew remained on the steak – not a good look, Franck.

pomme frites
The steak was generously portioned – served with a well-dressed salad, super crispy frites (THAT’S FRIES, NON-FRENCH PEOPLE!!!!), and a tasty béarnaise.

We chased our dinner with a glass of wine and a portion of the creme brulee – fantastically smooth with plenty of vanilla bean. Then I went home to rub my belly and rebuild my ego.

I do have to mention that I asked for the manager (French dude), who took care to make sure we enjoyed the rest of our evening. Thank you!

$$$$
Franck
Ferguson Lane
376 Wukang Lu at Hunan Lu
+86 158 2167 6767
**rude servers

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24
Nov 09

Phat in Hong Kong: Dessert!

After a fantastic dinner of siu mei with the girls, we headed around the corner for some slightly sweet, jelly-textured, mango-laden desserts at Honeymoon Dessert in the Langham Place mall.

Honeymoon Dessert is a cute little dessert chain across China. I’m sure there is one in Shanghai, but for some reason everything just tastes better in Hong Kong..!
honeymoon mango pancake
They are famous for this “mango pancake,” – a chunk of sweet mango wrapped up in a thin crepe with cream. The cream they used tastes a lot like cool whip… not my favorite.

more mango
Another Honeymoon Dessert. This one was mango with grass jelly, in “coconut sauce,” which really tasted like coconut milk mixed with… more cool whip!

On another occasion, I got to try another mango-explosion treat at Hui Lao Shan, a dessert chain that actually specializes in mango treats.
mango dessert
Pieces of mango pudding topped with mango sago, coconut milk, pomelo, and mango ice cream. A really nice contrast of textures. Yum!

steamed milk
This was by far my fav dessert I had in Hong Kong. I saw these guys sitting in the window of a cha chaan teng called Yee Shun Milk Co. in Causeway Bay and had to try it. For $20 HKD you can have your steamed milk pudding (dunn nai) hot or cold. Silky smooth, subtle, and just the right amount of sweet. It’s the perfect treat after an afternoon of being on your feet. (rhyme skills) They also have different varieties like with ginger juice, chocolate, or yep… mango.

Read more about HK-style desserts over at Hong Kong Hustle.

$
Honeymoon Dessert
Level 10, Langham Place Shopping Mall
8 Argyle Street
Mongkok, Kowloon
+852 2191-6638

$
Hui Lau Shan
Multiple locations
www.hkhls.com/

$
Yee Shun Milk Co.
506 Lockhart Rd
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
+856 2591-1837

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24
Nov 09

Phat in Hong Kong: Siu Mei

When I think of Cantonese food, Siu Mei (roasted meats) automatically comes to mind. This includes Cantonese classics like roast duck (sorry Beijing, down south does it better), char siu, and crispy skin pork.

I met up with some lovely Hong Kong ladies in Kowloon for a meal of authentic HK style siu mei. We went to a spot called Sham Tseng Chan Kee in Mongkok. Sham Tseng is an area in Kowloon famous for their roast goose, and its where the original Chan Kee is.

Roasted goose
Everyone in HK was raving about siu gno, or roasted goose. I had never tried this before, but apparently its a million times better than siu gnaap, or roast duck. (PS excuse my awful romanization of Cantonese words) We ordered half a bird and goddammit, everyone was right. Roasted goose is really that much better. The flavor is more intense, slightly gamier, and the meat is unbelievably juicy and fall-off-the-bone tender.

Soy Sauce Chicken
Another siu mei classic, you gei, or soy sauce chicken. Served with a traditional Cantonese sauce made by pouring sizzling HOT HOT oil flavored with garlic over minced ginger & green onion. This sauce is so simple, elegant, and fragrant – definitely one of my favs. I like to eat it alone over white rice.

Char Siu
Char siu, or red roasted pork. A little fatty, a little lean.

Paired with a dish of steamed gai lan (Chinese broccoli) with oyster sauce and fluffy white rice, this is the perfect meal.

$
Sham Tseng Chan Kee Roast Goose
427A Reclamation Street
Mongkok, Kowloon
Hong Kong
+852 2416 8893

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21
Nov 09

Phat in Hong Kong: Seafood in Lau Fau Shan

So Gee had been raving about this seafood spot way up in the New Territories since her visit to Shanghai, so hells yes I had to go! We met up with our friends Minh & Lindsay at their place in the NT and then took a 20 min cab ride to an area called Lau Fau Shan. LFS is waaay up north, you can even see Shenzhen from the coast!


LFS was originally an oyster cultivation village, and is famous for its fresh oysters.

dried oysters
Some vendors along the water were also selling dried oysters (ho si). I brought some back to Shanghai, but I don’t think my fellow airplane passengers appreciated it.

seafood market
Lots of fresh seafood in LFS. After wandering around the wet market we got really hungry, it was TIME TO EAT! LFS is famous for its amazing seafood restaurants.

pissing shrimp
We started with a dish of salt, pepper & chili mantis shrimp, called la nieu ha (pissing shrimp) in Chinese. I’ve never had mantis shrimp before – they are pretty freaky looking, like some kind of millipede crustacean. Gross to look at, but really delicious. The flesh is springy and resilient, like a lobster tail.

black bean clams
Clams stir fried in black bean sauce. A nice classic Cantonese dish. The clams were a good size and meaty. Can you see the fried oysters in the background?

fried oysters
These fresh, plump oysters were sold in the wet market next door in plastic tubes filled with water. pretty cool One of my favorite preparations for fresh, plump, meaty oysters is a roll in batter, a quick dip in the fryer, and served piping hot with red vinegar on the side. I love this dish, jaa sang ho (fried oysters) because the oysters stay juicy from the quick cooking method. These oysters in particular were coated with an extremely light and flaky breading – the same kind you find on fried taro dumplings at dim sum. Served up with a plate of fresh romaine.

hairy crab!
So everyone in China nows that now is the season to indulge in hairy crab. We decided to bump up our cholesterol levels and order some salt-baked hairy crab (yeem gook dai jap hai). This was my first time eating hairy crab and ohhh myyyy gahhhh I totally understand why people love it now. The roe of the female crab is amazing – like a cross between foie gras and the yolk of a salty duck egg. All imbued with crabby essence!

For some reason, even though Yancheng Lake, where the crabs are from, is very close to Shanghai, the crabs in SH are very expensive. They start at around $60RMB a pc, whereas in Hong Kong, I found very fresh, sizable hairy crabs selling for $100HKD / 5pcs. HK > SH!!

seafood fried rice
The restaurant we ate at seemed to specialize in all kinds of seafood dishes, we saw clippings on the wall praising a sea urchin soup – served in shell. Yum! Unfortunately they didnt have this soup so we settled on another of the restaurant’s specialities, seafood fried rice with roe. After a bite of this dish, I’ve decided that all fried rice should have roe in it! The eggs had such a nice refreshing crunch. The rice was also expertly prepared, neither soggy nor undercooked – “good wok-foh (wok fire)” as my mom would say.

We left with our bellies full and all fell asleep in the cab back. Good work, team!

$$
Happy Seafood Restaurant
Roundabout at Lau Fau Shan, Yuen Long
New Territories, Hong Kong
+852 2472 3450

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20
Nov 09

Phat in Hong Kong: Cha Chaan Teng

Took a little trip to Hong Kong this past weekend, it was amazing. I love HK – the shopping, the people, the FOOD! Although my family is not from HK, I felt a real affinity with the city, and I think it’s definitely a place I’d like to live in someday.

Everyone says its impossible to get bad food in Hong Kong, and I think this is true. Everywhere you go, amazing eats! Plus, Hong Kong is the home of the cha chaan teng, or Chinese tea house. These restaurants are everywhere, and serve an inexpensive, eclectic menu that mixes the East (stir fried noodles) with the West (baked macaroni casserole.)

cha chaan teng

One of my favorite cha chaan teng dishes is beef tendon noodle soup (ngo gun ho fun). I go crazy for this stuff. This dish is the ultimate comfort food for me – my dad and I used to trek to Chinatown on Sundays and dig into a bowl of this at the Washington Bakery & Cafe in SF. This dish is a common and simple one, but a lot of places just can’t get it right. (There is no good beef tendon noodle in NYC!!!) The tendon in this dish should be extremely tender, softened from being braised with ginger and Chinese five spice. The soup should be rich and beefy, the ho fun (wide rice noodles) perfectly cooked with a bit of bite. I like it when they serve this dish up with plenty of iceberg lettuce. Now that’s comfort food.

gee noodles
Once I stepped off the plane, I met up with my girl Gee and we went off in search of food. We stopped by a streetside noodle stall in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, for a bowl of legit HK soup noodles.
kwun tong noodles
This noodle stall sold piping hot bowls of thin egg noodles in broth, and you can choose your topping. I went with wontons, beef brisket, and beef tendon. This was probably the best bowl of beef tendon noodle I’ve ever had. The cuts of brisket were primo, and the tendon was extremely tender and melted in your mouth. Plus the little details – fried shallots, green onions – really made the dish. Wow. I will never forget you, kwun tong noodles!

tsui wah noodle soup
Next bowl of tendon noodles: the infamous Tsui Wah. We have a branch here in Shanghai, but I finally got to make a pilgrimage to the original in Lan Kwai Fung. This was a pretty damn good bowl of beef tendon noodles. I can’t remember much about it though, it was 4am, what can i say?

airport noodles
I had this bowl of noodles right before I headed back to Shanghai. There was a cha chaan teng in the airport called “Windows.” Eh.. not that great, but still a helluva lot better than what they serve in Shanghai or NYC.

Another favorite cha chaan teng snack of mine:
beef rice noodle roll
Most cha chaan teng will offer a set meal – for breakfast at this random place I ordered a yummy sang choy yu pien jook (congee with fish slices & shredded iceberg lettuce) with the ngo yook cherng (beef rice noodle roll). With a drink for $22 HKD.

Here’s an example of some of the weird east meets west dishes they serve at cha chaan teng:
Thousand Island Baked Rice
This is a Macaunese dish of fried rice topped with roasted chicken, fried fish, and pineapple. All of it is served in a tin pan and smothered with a creamy Thousand Island dressing, then baked in an oven. Really random, gross, and freaking delicious at the same time.

$
Tsui Wah
15-19 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong
+852 2525 6338
www.tsuiwahrestaurant.com

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