Lunch options at work

 Today I decided to find alternative lunch fare.  I was getting tired of the food from cafeteria 2, 3 and 5 offered at the University. I wandered over to the library where there is a Family Mart.  It's a bit like a Seven Eleven store selling drinks, chips and food items.  When I was teaching last spring I saw my students eat what looked like fairly edible food and they told me that they purchased it at the Family Mart in the library . I entered the store and was overwhelmed by the selection of items available and decided to buy a bunch. I would taste each one so that I know in the future which would be suitable for me.  First the sandwich - pasta in a hot dog bun.  I bought this because I never thought to put a carb with a carb in this manner and was curious to see if it was a good idea. If you look closely at the packaging, the cartoon character assures me that I will indeed enjoy this sandwich.  

Surprisingly the picture looked so much better then the actual product.(Yes, I am being a wise guy here.) Taste wise, well, I slipped one noodle into my mouth and actually thought it tasted pretty good.  Sesame oil and the sparkling MSG tempted you to want to try another bite.  I resisted as the meat (right side of bun) looked funny and overall,  all I could smell was the sweet sugary hot dog bun and the sesame oil; plus a carb overload was not my intention.  I was just curious to see this sandwich.  I wonder if the Chinese students think this is a typical American style sandwich?

 This next item seemed like it could be a huge success for me. An egg wrapped, rice filled, fried chicken "sushi" roll.  Who hasn't enjoyed a bit of fried chicken once in a while? 

I opened up the roll and some wilted lettuce and mayo was found inside.  Yikes, this was not looking good. Maybe I should have just taken a bite before investigating the insides.  But having lived in Shanghai for four years and having some special knowledge : i.e. what you see and think you understand is not necessarily what it is  - I continued my exploration of this lunch item.

A quick slice to open the fried chicken item only to find out....it's squid. Everything is not as it seems.  I continued to pull it apart and found 'pressed processed' squid or pollack, hard to tell, and decided I did not have the courage to taste it. I pitched it into the bin right along side the spaghetti sandwich.  Next up, what looks like a traditional California sushi roll.  

 My first concern when I pulled the sushi from the package was the slippery oily seaweed wrapper.  The corn, which you see peaking out of the seaweed wrapper, did not phase me as I thought a substitution would be used for avocados as they are not popular here and quite expensive.

 Unrolled we find another leaf of wilted lettuce, egg, soy "infused" sticky rice, a few kernels of corn and two krab sticks. I took a taste of the sticky rice and it was similar in taste to Zongzi or sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaf.....but it wasn't as good.  That  'roll' was sent hurdling through the air to land right next to the other two items in the bin. You can read about the traditional Chinese snack Zongzi here: http://www.lifeonnanchanglu.com/2012/06/shanghai-street-food-29-zongzi-sticky.html  from my friend Fiona.

On to the last three items. A slice of green melon, a buckwheat noodle dish and vegetable dumplings.

 The dumpling wrappers were a sad lot, some were very thick and others dried out surprisingly the vegetable filling was nicely seasoned with fresh ginger.   I ate two of those - insides only - with a squirt of the vinegar pouch that came with the box.  

 The last box seemed to be the least interesting of them all but it did have a good taste once you poured the vinegar sauce and wasabi on the noodles.  I didn't try the sliced ham but did nibble on the seaweed salad and it was OK.  After two bites decided it really was more yucky then good and dumped it into the trash.  Last but not least the green melon, it was sweet and crisp and perfect.  I ate the whole slice. 

Here ends the experiment, although there are many more foods to sample at the Family Mart I think I am clear that it's all pretty bad.   I suppose if craving a slice of melon I will know where to buy one. 

Birds, crickets and fish.

 I posted some pictures on Facebook two days ago and although the album is in the photos section it never popped up on the news feed/stream...whatever that page is called.  I was searching out the Facebook site to see how to post the pictures for all to see and came across a message that said I could share these photos with a link.   So I am trying it out.  Please click below or cut and paste to another page to see my day with the animals!   I hope this works.  Let me know in the comments section if you can access the link and how you did it.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3848718731730.2167696.1091056102&type=3
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3848718731730.2167696.1091056102&type=3&l=e0b1f4bf1b

Where there three guys washing the building?

 I noticed these guys washing our building yesterday and as I began to look closely I noticed three harnesses!

 Do you see the empty harness near the bottom of the bucket?  And doesn't it seem like the fellow with the hose is washing away "something", maybe human debris?

And here they are studying something on the ground........ the guy in the third harness maybe?!

Ladies Lunch at Shanghai Slims

The Friday afternoon before heading to Borneo (a month ago) I met up with some friends for a wine tasting lunch.

 (Note to self: no drinking before packing for a trip as results could be disconcerting. i.e. 9 pairs of sock for a 7 day trip and only 3 undergarments. Good thing it was a beach vacation and I would be spending all my time in a swimsuit!)

 We were scheduled to meet at Shanghai Slims at noon and were prepared to taste four wines and enjoy a good meal.

As it was a gorgeous day we sat outside. A menu was placed on top of each place setting and we had ample opportunity to read it. As I was busy chatting and catching up with pals  I neglected to read the menu carefully so I thought that I was getting a protein and a pasta!  I was really looking forward to some Gnocchi after my Tuna and although I was disappointed,  pasta was not the second main, I did not leave hungry. Aren't I greedy!

 The bread basket, need I say more?

We were then served a chopped salad, to share, with a large Parmesan crisp. I have eaten at Shanghai Slims before and this is my favorite salad.  I let the others enjoy the crisp but gobbled up all the crunchy vegetables.

In addition to the shared salad we had a cream of mushroom soup.  The menu did indicate that either a salad or soup would be served but the management of the restaurant decided to give us both.  I really don't know why but it was a nice treat.  The three mushroom soup should have just been called triple cream mushroom soup.  It was so rich and velvety and just heaven in a bowl.

Now the purpose of this lunch, besides getting together with friends, was to sample new wines. The wine purveyor decided to make this a game.  He served a white to start and asked us to write on the back of our menu, the grape and location of where the wine came from.  We were going to try four different types of wines and at the end who ever guessed them all correctly would win a bottle of wine.  John (the wine guy) must have done these lunches before and knew from experience that this kind of crowd doesn't really know their wines, he wasn't going to have to give anything away.  But if you asked us prior to the lunch we would have told we knew A LOT about wine.  Plus at this wine tasting John (wine guy) started us off with a glass of white and then gave us another glass when the first course started.  That's not a tasting that's just drinking.  Perhaps he wanted to get us tipsy so we wouldn't do well at the contest?  I don't know but we sure had fun!!!

First a white, then two reds and then we would be served a white with dessert.  

Here is my good friend Robyn who ordered her steak medium she thought the little flag was delightful!
There were four main course choices on the menu and everyone either ordered the steak or the tuna, I wonder if we all thought that pasta was the next course?

Steak!

My tuna, perfectly cooked and delicious!

Here we are at three glasses of wine, only one more course and glass to go.

I truly could not drink the last glass of wine nor eat my dessert.  I did taste both but had to push it away as I was bursting! The ultimate tiramisu, as claimed by Shanghai Slim, was yummy, too bad I didn't have any room left.  I wonder if the owner of Shanghai Slim is slim?  If he eats his own food - cream of mushroom soup, creamy tiramisu, oh remember the bread basket! - I think not!

So who guessed all four wines correctly?  For red #1 I guessed Shiraz and it was a Merlot and #2 red was Merlot and I guessed Shiraz.  I was totally wrong about the two whites. No one guessed all four correcly but there were two winners anyway, I think the wine guy drank a few as well and was feeling generous.  Robyn, pictured above with the medium steak, won a bottle as did another gal. 

I have been to another wine tasting dinner which John was also the purveyor of the wines and I am sorry I did not take a picture of him while at this lunch.  Sadly, John suddenly passed away 2 weeks ago.  He had lived in China for more then 30 years.  He frequently went back to Australia and New Zealand to buy wines and I assume to visit family.  He left behind a wife and family here in China.  We will miss John.

Kappo Yu Restaurant

Having read and read about Kappo Yu Japanese Restaurant I just knew I had to try it.  A 10 course set menu that changes every night.  Every night.  I could go there again, tonight, the very next night after I have eaten there and have a totally new 10 course meal.  Incredible.

I walked to the restaurant last night as it was a wonderfully mild evening.  The restaurant is about 2 miles from our apartment and the walk takes about 30 minutes - unless you are snapping pictures, as I do, then it's about 45 minutes. The walk took me into the heart of the Former French Concession, (Chinese Govt. please note, I have used the word 'Former' in my description - no fine please. More on this later) This area is what I consider the most beautiful part of Shanghai.  Tree lined streets, old art deco apartment buildings, wonderful old lane homes or old mansions tucked away behind walls.

 I turned the corner on to the quiet side street of Wuxing Lu.  My steps quickened in anticipation of seeing the restaurant. What does it look like, I wondered?

 Number 33 Wuxing Lu, fitted out with it's best smoking section - outdoors thank goodness!

Here we are at the front door, granted a booking at 6:30pm seems a wee bit early to start such a grand dinner but there are only two seating's and beginning a 10 course dinner at 9pm seemed too late a start. 

 It's a small restaurant with 10 seats at the counter and two tatami rooms.

 As the reservation was for 6:30, and I believe an on time arrival as polite and important, I was on time.  In addition a lot of time would be needed to eat and savor a 10 course meal!  Of course this is China and not surprisingly no one else had arrived.  Fortunately the Chef - Yohe Terada, does not wait until all 10 guests have arrived to begin the meal service.

 The menu looked interesting but my eyes flashed on to one dish that I wondered if I would even like a little bit. Yellow pepper mousse with Sea Urchin.  The kind waitress asked if there was anything on the menu that I didn't eat - implying that a) she could omit it or b) she would make a replacement.  I am not sure which but I quietly gulped and said: well, I don't particularly like sea urchin.  Mind you I had it once, 26 years ago at a Japanese restaurant called Kabuki next to my college in Danbury, CT.  Believe it or not Danbury,CT is not  known for it's prowess in Japanese cuisine and me being all of 19 years old at the time of the first and only tasting of Sea Urchin, I thought perhaps I should buck up and try it again.  Oh, and for those of you who know me well, I am not a pepper lover. Hot spicy peppers no problem, green peppers and such not my favorite flavor.  The waitress who had inquired about any eating disabilities I might have paused and said the Sea Urchin is delicious here I should try it.  I thought about it for 3 seconds and said, everything on the menu looks lovely and I can't wait to try everything.

 

 Our fearless Chef Yohe!

The long counter was set with these tiny vases with two sprigs of tiny flowers in each.

 Preparing the first course.

 The first course, I was told, had a substitution as the Bonito was not available so large red shrimp would be served instead. That seemed like a reasonable exchange to me.  The red thing in the back is a very large thin slice of beet which has been deep fried just like a potato chip! The honey mustard sauce was a perfect blend of sweet, salt and spice.

 As you can see I didn't like it at all!  For this type of meal, you can eat everything on your plate, nothing is "just for garnish" you are suppose to eat all the bits to get the full flavor and taste.  And yes I ate the fried shrimp head.  Once again proving that fish heads of any sort, cooked in any style, even everyone's favorite - fried - does not taste good.   The rest of the items on the plate were perfection!

Guests began arriving at about 7pm, and I was on to my second course! The presentation for each course was thoughtful and beautiful.  The second course was crab with vegetables, what looks like an egg at the back of the dish is squash that was scooped out into a ball shape and next to it a piece cut into a rectangle.  Everything was done so carefully.

 What's this you ask?  I asked the same thing.  Fresh unpeeled wasabi.  Wow!

 After a quick peel and grind on the porcelain plate grinder....

 the next thing you know it's being served to me! Here we have some sashimi  flown in from Japan and Spain.  It was so fresh and tasty.

 One more delicious bite.

The fourth course - Yellow pepper mousse with sea urchin was, if you can believe it, by far my favorite.  It was incredible. A  yellow pepper mousse cream (a bit like soft melted ice cream) was placed on top of the sea urchin with sliced red pepper and a sweet salty sauce on the bottom.  It was perfection.  I am so glad I didn't reject it.

A bit of tempura  with smoked salt.  Smoked salt?  It did indeed have a smokey taste. This course was only OK, maybe my least favorite but tasty nevertheless.

One of 'strange' fruits' I have be introduced to here in China a type of berry called Yangmei. It becomes ripe in May/June and is a little tart.  The inside has a stone the size of a cherry. This refreshing bite had cold sake jelly on top, really it was just very very cold jello. This dish was great!!!

Above it a plate of fresh yangmei berries.  They are very tasty but you must be careful when you eat them as they will stain everything!

On to the seventh course.......beautiful small plate with cover but once removed you realized you had to be an adventurous eater!

This was the grilled sweet fish with broad bean sauce.  The small orange veg on the left side is a mini squash. I wonder about how these are grown, they are so petite.  The whole fish can be eaten, yes even the head. And as it was the size of a large marble I did pop it in my mouth and eat it, yup still tastes funny.  You would think I had learned that lesson at course one.  The rest of the fish tasted nice, sweet white flesh in a green bean puree.

Course number eight, King Crab legs!!! What is happening here is a mini hot pot. The pot on the right side of the picture has soup and is heating up for me to put the fresh crab legs in for a 1 minute cooking bath. Once cooked you dip into the homemade ponzu sauce which is in the forefront of the picture.  Very very tasty. 

Course nine was more sushi in a handroll form and then came homemade desserts. Mango ice cream, panne cotta with fresh puree of strawberry (my fav) and hot sweet red bean soup(least fav).  Unfortunately my camera gave up at course eight, hey I was ready to give up at course six.  I suppose all this really means is that I have to go back and do it again to capture all ten course and have a full accounting.

It was a great experience and actually do look forward to doing it again.....maybe next year when I get hungry again.