Oh Jesse you're so fine....

We're not alone in loving this place - Neil Perry rates it (http://www.theworlds50best.com/jesse-restaurant-%E2%80%93-shanghai-by-neil-perry/5280)   

One of the most intriguing meals we had in Shanghai last time (2 years ago?)was the shredded bean curd and mushrooms (now listed as "bean curd sheet with mushroom") at Jesse. And ever since then we have been on a mission to identify the tofu used in this dish.  While the shredded tofu is slightly tougher than our first experience, it still evokes poached shredded chicken... mushroomy stock with star anise, cinnamon, chili, and then that fabulous texture..

 But even better is the "vegetarian chicken" made, I think, from reconstituted tofu braised with lots and lots of cinnamon, star anise, soy, to deliver a spongy treasure.

Salted chicken is wonderfully seasoned.  White meat just cooked, fat just set....

I was dubious about the fried river shrimp (had found them bland at Fu 1088) but the addition of black vinegar and a crispy tail makes a world of difference! Just cooked white shrimp meat offset by a crispy tail with the accent of vinegar. Devine!


The "chicken with red pepper" proved a surprize - essentially deep fried chicken with lots and lots of chili and then some.  heat surprizingly ok though

 And then a surprize - the best shallot pancake yet....  crispy pastry embracing oh so flavoursome shallot snippets (may be pork floss involved??).  DROOOLLLLLLLLL....

 Damage for 3 - with beers? A grand total of 400RMD

Mao, Mao, Mao, it's always Mao - Shanghai restaurant food from Mao's home towm

Mao's hometown of Shaoshan in the Hunan province which is famous for its hot spicy flavours and fresh ingredients is celebrated in Shanghi's Di Shui Dong.

It's not flash but it's full of life.  Up the stairs, into the open plan space.  It's noisy, full of blue and white check table cloths but it smells as amazing as it did last time.  This is the site of what i think might be the most amazing fried rice i have ever eaten (followed closely though by the seafood restaurant harbourside on Cheung Sha Island).  it's smokey, full of flavour, and highly addictive.

the fried rice is hiding behind the chicken stew (in the black iron pot) which was finger licking good.  To the right - Mao's Favourite Shrimp (RMD54).  Deheaded decent sized prawns served with deep fried chili, crispy tails and just cooked bodies which need to be eaten in one go.  sensational. crunchy, shrimpy, not-nearly-as-hot-as-you'd-expect (really!). Grandma Tofu is also spicy but balanced.  tsing dao a must however at this stage.

I also loved the cold pork with garlic - guaranteed to keep colds, flu, and kissers away (18RMD - that's under 3 aussie dollars!)

Suan Cai is a traditional pickled Chinese cabbage - we choose it served with fried bamboo and it's delicious.  As is the smoked tofu (10RMB!), the shredded pumpkin, and the sweet and sour lotus roots (20RMB)

 We finish with a perfectly cooked whole madarin fish served with "a ketchup sauce".  It arrives on its belly, swimming in a sweet, chili, tomato sauce base.  the flesh flakes away, the sauce is fantastic.

TIP - don't even bother looking at the wine list - go straight to the beers.  The staff are amazing but if you have food requirements, make sure you have them written down as there's limited opportunity for on-floor translation



 

Xindalu, Xindalu, now we are here....

No views but a beautifully temple like fit out in the ground floor of the Hyatt on the Bund which is worth dragging yourself across town for.  Xindalu has a reputation for Shanghai's best duck which may or may not be true but it's consistently wow-factor and one of the many great places i'd dined when last in Shanghai which i wanted to share with my fellow gourmands, particularly as the best possible hangover recovery joint.  Why?  it's zen, it's calming, the food is incredible, and the value is amazing.  (as it turns out they're apparently not used to the australian capacity to drink and my recommendation to dine here in the evening results in the kitchen and bar shutting before the table is quite ready...but for lunch!)

Just 3 of us arrive on time for our booking and we take the initiative to order entrees....  bean curd rolls with chrysthamum sprigs; delicate braised five spice beef shank and coriander served thinly sliced and just warm; an addictive braised chicken in a delicate broth listed on the menu as "shredded chicken with coriander" although it arrives with 1 sprig is a must eat; crispy river eel, with sweet and sour sauce...

The cold pork with garlic is also worth a space on the table along with the Shanghai buns

 crunch base, soft doughy surrounds, and balanced spiced meaty filling.

Shrimp dumplings - danced across the plate and the palate.

And the duck was just as good as last time.  crackling duck skin, succulent duck breast, and perfect pancakes.  

 
This is the perfect quiet lunch venue - normally they have a good aussie pinot grigio on the menu (last time there were also some great french wines but none were available this time). 

lost for words in Lost Heaven, Shanghai

Mankind's search for an altered state reaches back to the very start of our existence.  

My search for an altered state, culinary and otherwise, came full circle at the magnificent Lost Heaven in Gaoyou Road (another Lost Heaven exists near the Bund with a superb rooftop bar) http://www.lostheaven.com.cn/main.html .  

The Mekong region was kept vibrant by the Tea-and-Horse Trail from the soaring heights of Tibet through Yunnan to Thailand and Burma.  Lost Heaven celebrates this exotic blend from the plate to table to walls to wait staff.  It's dark wooded magic with spotlit tables, and colourful, traditionally clad waiters and waitresses are calming, breathtaking and well worth a visit.  Lost Heaven will take your breath away. 

As did the spray of green peppers sitting atop of the delicately braised mandarin fish which i enthusiastically (albeit unintentionally) stuffed into my mouth mid-sentence.  First, an extraordinary burst of salty citrus, then peppery heat, followed by a sensation that i can only describe as the equivalent of a million tiny garra rufa fish in my mouth, scavenging from every possible surface area.  Then my tongue starts to swell, then my cheeks.  For once, I'm lost for words.  It wasn't particularly unpleasant (apart from not being able to drink) and was intriguing enough for me to feel the need to share with my (patient) fellow diners.  They took advantage of the (relative) silence, and managed to ignore the dentist-chair contributions, while i explored ways of soothing the spacefizzing of my tongue - i even created soda water by sticking my tongue into a glass of water.  After 30 mins, normality looked within reach.

Many of the dishes on the menu looked familiar with thai influences but other combinations were entirely new.  We started with "Burmese Crab Cakes"

These delicate slivers of crab mousse sandwiched between crispy bean curd sheets are served with a swirled sauce which had us all guessing.  The green was mint and pineapple, fresh and sweet.  The gold has us still debating.  Yellow pepper?  It wasn't as sweet but, combined, this was a fabulous introduction to the contradictions of Yunnanese food.

Another special regional ingredient is the use of tea leaf sprouts so the salad was a must.

 This burmese style coleslaw drew mixed reactions - i loved the slightly acidic flavours and found it refreshing but a couple of the others at the table found it a little bitter.  

The vegetables with shrimp paste were highly recommended and our choice of green beans with shrimp paste lived up to the pressure. Crispy greenness accentuated by the funkiness of the dried shrimp.  Heaven.

Then the deadly but "interesting" braised mandarin fish (i couldn't taste it due to my embracing of the green peppercorns) plus a beautiful "Golden Triangle fried rice".

3 bottles of Cape Mentelle Semillion, 3 Tsing Tao, 2 Evians plus food for 5 and the bill came to 2182RMB (that's about AUD60 ahead plus the extra half hour of LJ silence which is...priceless)

PS try to ignore the temptation when you sit down to place the plate covers which look like tibetan bells on your head.  It's nigh on impossible....

Where's my piano? Fu 1088 old style Shanghai

Fu 1088 (375 Zhenning Lu by Yuyuan Lu) is a step back to Shanghai in the glory of the 1930s and a fitting choice to celebrate our return to this magical city.  Unfortunately, we don't end up in the mansion where I got to dine when last here (with the personal pianists).  Instead, we're ushered into the building next door and installed in the front room.  From the dusty pink rose wallpaper to the mahogany furniture, scalloped light shade, and comfy leather lounge (with antimacassars), this a room plucked through time.

The journey begins.

Pea starch noodles rolled with wild vegetables and a sesame sauce.  Pretty, celadon, gelatinous tubes of pea starch cup finely chopped spinach and sesame. I loved it but was not joined in my enthusiasm by the rest of the table...

Shredded beancurd with coriander is a hit, as are the waffle cones of diced tuna and mango (which i didn't try as i was too busy hoovering the crispy eel strips with sweet chili sauce before the others discovered their crunchy goodness).   Then, tea smoked egg with caviar.  The yolk of the egg is just set, cradled in smokey white, with bursts of caviar

I love eel done this way - crunchy eel with a sticky sweet chili sauce.  If you ever get the chance, just do it.  This was the first time for eel consumption for many of my fellow diners and once on the slippery trail (get it?), there's no going back.

Crispy boneless chicken with spring onions and chili was good, as was the sauteed duck with baked sesame pie (another of my must trys for here as they were brilliant last time)..  The duck is tender, seasoned beautifully and served in short pastry slippers coated in sesame.

But the absolute winner of the dish was succulent braised hunks of beef served in a "black pepper sauce with a honey mustard".  I'd skipped over it in the money, skeptical of the mustard/sauce combination, but it was truly remarkable.

just quietly, the shallot cakes were also pretty good!

  Downside - the wine list was depleted with all the good listed French wines not available and bizarre (export) Aussie wines the alternate.  We settled on the "Royal Monastery" Shiraz from Barossa (but clearly not a domestic label)

Those poor eels - Chinese Cooking Workshop half day

Back in Shanghai and first on the list of must do experiences is the wonderful dumpling making class at www.chinesecookingworkshop.com.  As there's a group of us (5), we decide on a private group.  First up, to the markets to hunt and harvest the ingredients for our xiao long bao, Kongbao Chicken, and fried pork with pineapple (sounds so much better than "sweet and sour pork" no?).

The markets (just off West Nan Jing Road) are a tapestry of colour, sounds, and smells.  Vegetables curled around in ever decreasing circles, scarlet capsicums placed just so, strawberries the size of golf balls and big open baskets of sprouts and herbs cascading out in spirals.

Eggs of all kinds, quail, speckled, blue, 1000-year, salted egg, and embryonic variety sit proudly to one side, chickens perform death kicks to the skies in a final salute...

There's a type of chicken, a black chicken, which I haven't had the pleasure of trying yet which apparently makes the best soup (source - Langham Xintiandi Exec Chef Albert Servalls).  Toads climb on top of each other trying to escape, fish gasp for breath, and eels slither.  


Prepping the eels is incredibly quick. Using flat ended tongs, she stabs the eel, and then runs the tongs down the length of the  either side of the spine, lefts the spine away, leaving a butterflied tiny eel (little finger size) - sweet and probably destined for crispy eel skin with chili sauce!

Then back to the about to be demolished Puxi kitchen.  Through an arch, past the graffiti, posters, tarps, up three flights of (questionable) stairs and into the kitchen.

the kongbao chicken and fried pork are demonstration dishes but Chef gets us busy cleavering.  There were a couple of surprizes.  The diced chicken is marinated in salt, sugar, rice wine, soy, dark soy, vinegar and cornstarch, and then hot oil from the work is stirred through to separate before the chicken is all deep fried until cooked. Ginger, garlic, chili paste, and rice wine satueed, then the chicken is added along with deep fried peanuts. 

and just coz too much fat is never enough....the pork is deep fried as well!  (the "rhombus" peppers still take remarkably fresh despite the amount of oil though so counting them as vegetables still)

 now comes the fun part...DDUUUUUMPPPPPPPPPPPLINNNNNNNGGGGSSSSSSS

First, a mound of flour, water, mix, knead, roll, stretch, knead until the dough comes away  cleanly from the stainless steel.  A flat angled "paddle" is the instrument of choice.  roll dough into a snake, then grip it in a death hold with a piece of dough the length of the top part of your thumb sticking out the top, pinch hard to break away a stub of dough.  flatten with the palm of your hand and then hold part in the air and use your mini rolling pin to roll almost up to where your holding it, lift, rotate, and again, and again till it's circular and dainty (aspirational ;) ...then you mix together pork mince, salt, sugar, white pepper, rice wine, light soy sauce, shallots, ginger, sesame oil and lots and lots of "pork jelly" and the magic begins.

ta dah!

Dumpling Surprize - so that's how they get the soup into Xiao Long Bao

For the equivalent of around AUD50, Shanghai's chinesecookingworkshop.com has a great choice of cooking and market classes. We started with your basic pork dumpling and salty egg rice and worked our way up to my dumpling obsession, xiao long bao.

Now to unlock the secret of the xiao long bao - 100g minced pork, 60g chopped pork jelly/stock (which melts to become the soup), pinch of ginger, green onion, pepper, rice wine, light soy sauce, salt and pepper, and some sesame oil and mix well.  

Now the pastry,.  Just 80g of flour and 45ml of cold water, knead, roll into a snake, and cut into equal portions, roll into a ball, flatten the ball and then roll.

Add the filling, and then delicately pinch the top to form the dumpling - good dumplings should have 18 pleats.  


First attempt is enthusiastic....

But, I do get there, not to 18, but a little more respectable looking offering....

and you know what, they actually tasted pretty good (particularly on such a cold cold day!)
 

Shangai's best duck? Xindalu in Hyatt on the Bund

The Hyatt on the Bund has a reputation for Shanghai's best roast duck.  And, as this was going to be our last meal in Shanghai for a while, the pressure was on.

First signs are good.  lots and lots of locals, slurping, slapping, and feasting.  Deep ovens, wafts of heaven.

 Each sitting, in season, there's a limited number of another of the house specialities.  Just 10 dishes of chrysthamum sprouts are served and we scored!  Like tiny little perfect cigarellos served with a very sweet vinegar and wrapped in a fine bean curd sheet.  Delicious (and i think our first fresh veggies for the week?)

Braised beef shin, delicate, earthy, and beautifully served.

Then a bubbling ox tail with fungus, chestnuts, and gingko - all traditional elements to help brace your constitution against the chattering winds. 

 The half duck arrives and is carved expertly at the table.  First the skin which you eat dipped in sugar - the textural contrast works well.  And the carved morsels of  breast meat are served with garlic juice and hoisin sauce.

And finally a clear duck soup with the sweetness of a red date and celery.

All helped along by a very quaffable house wine (Phillipe de Rothschild) and a lovely surprize when the RMB1200 bill is reduced to 1000 because we're paying with Amex.  I'll be back!