You might think, especially if approaching from behind, that a morning line 30 people deep was for the bus (or buses, as there are at least two that share this stop). But no, it's for the steamed bun seller.
I'm pretty sure the local Starbucks doesn't get this kind of line.
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Yes, there are more. These ones are my faaaavorite. When I said "these" are my favorite, I meant the ones in the picture, from this vendor. He stands in an open stall, facing the sidewalk, so that the dumplings (and their aroma) are smack next to you. Best. Advertisement. Ever. These are the other (xiao long bao) Shanghai dumplings I mentioned. They have a thinner, less bread-like skin, and you dunk (or douse) them in vinegar before consuming. They're only steamed, no frying involved, but I would hesitate to call them a health food. Still, they're delightful. I actually like these better than the sheng jian bao, but it's just a personal preference. I'd definitely take either over most of the other food here! I believe I've confessed that Shanghainese cuisine is not all that much to my liking. As with all good rules, however, there are exceptions. In this case, little meat-and-soup-stuffed exceptions. The little white bumps in the giant wok at the foreground of this picture are sheng jian bao. The outer skin is a thick dough; inside is a ground-pork meatball, and the resulting broth from its cooking inside the dough. The dumplings are both steamed and pan-fried, which means the dough is soft on top, crispy on bottom (and good for holding in the soup). The amount of soup in the dumpling is significant, or "enough to squirt all over your shirt if you're not paying attention." One of the things I did in Hoi An was take a cooking class. If you've never taken a cooking class, let me give you this tip -- you get to eat all the food at the end (or sometimes, throughout). And they use good ingredients, so you really can't mess anything up too badly. Among the dishes we learned to make was, of course, pho (yes, it's pronounced fuh; it doesn't rhyme with no). We took a bit of a shortcut by not boiling the stock for 8 hours, but we did do the rice noodles from scratch. Essentially, you mix rice flour and water until it looks like papier mache liquid, and then you scoop it onto that setup on the right, so that it forms a little steamed pancake. Then you gently pick it up, fold it into layers, and slice. It's actually pretty simple, provided you have the right setup, but a bit time-consuming. It turns out that pho vendors in Vietnam leave the noodle-making to others, and just buy the noodles to dunk in the soup. I'm thinking if it's not worth it to them to make their own, the chances of my making them anytime soon are very low indeed. OK, so now that you know the route, we can get going. How about we start with the food? Highlights from the two weeks over on the food page, conveniently broken into two parts (UPDATE: Links fixed. Apologies for the annoyance; there appears to be a new bug in the system). Convenient for whom? Let's just say it's you. Spot the animal LT in Big C did not eat while in Yunnan... Give up? Guess you'll have to check the food updates. Well, I've found internet, but the connection appears to be pretty poor, so this will be a short post in case it never makes it. Yes, that really is what it's called (chou doufu, in Chinese). It's fermented, and to call it "stinky" is to be extremely generous. People who eat the stinky tofu swear that it's delicious. Some of them, despite acknowledging that it smells terrible, claim not to smell it while they're eating it (I have a cousin who falls in this category). I have no idea how this is possible, although I will say that some stinky tofu is much stinkier than others. The batch in Hong Kong was especially potent, at least compared to what I've smelled around Shanghai -- no small feat considering that it was about 50 degrees when I was in Hong Kong, while Shanghai has for some time now been seeing the temperatures at which urban smells really ripen and take on a special full-bodied texture. I lied. Some more short Singapore posts (sushi & stingray) added to the food page. If you're reading this in the US and haven't already done so... call your mother. (Incidentally, Mother's Day is not a traditional celebration here, but it's starting to catch on. I don't know whether people take their mothers out to lunch, give them flowers, or what, but I did see a sale ad the other day. As far as infiltration of American holidays goes, though, Valentine's Day is way ahead so far. I think chocolate may have something to do with it.) |
Huh?No, I haven't seen the movie, and yes, I chose the name anyway. I'm told an Asian woman with green eyes is a plot point. Archives
July 2011
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