Gary Soup

My wife also makes the egg jiaozi (dan jiao) at New Years, and also to serve with hot pot. It's quite labor intensive, considering that each tiny "omelette" is made from about 1/10th of an egg. She also makes literal egg rolls (dan juan) which consist of minced pork and shrimp rolled up in a thin omelette skin and steamed. I've seen a similar dish called "The Dragon" described in a book on classical Chinese cuisine. Of course, "Egg Roll" is the American term for Spring Roll (chun juan). They are definitely Chinese in origin, though there are Americanized versions (like the ones in Jason's photos). The ones my wife and her family make look just about like the picture below. They're a bit larger than what the Filipinos call "Shanghai Lumpia" but not as big as most Chinese-American versions.

There's been an explosion of South Indian/Pakistani places in San Francisco in the last couple of years. They are mostly low-budget, curry-oriented and TASTY. At these places you can get a plate of curry for about $5.00 and a good, just-made naan the size of a steering wheel for as little as a buck. Many have sprung up in an area of the Tenderloin which the San Francisco Chronicle has dubbed the "Tandoor-loin": The Tandoor-loin More such places have cropped up since the article was published a year ago.

Note that hotel star ratings tend to be inflated in China. 3 Stars in China would probably be comparable to 2 stars in Europe. Your parents may ultimately feel comfortable only with bottled water. If so, stick with a reliable brand, or you may be buying bottled tap water that's been filtered but not sanitized. Aquarius would be a good bet, it's 50% owned by Danone, the same French conglom that owns Dannon yoghurt. (Of course, there may be counterfeit Aquarius out there!) When I'm out and about in Shanghai in hot weather, I always buy Suntory bottled oolong tea. It's the only readily-available brand that you can get unsweetened, and its usually chilled.

I think what ruffles feathers (so to speak) is not a matter of habitat, which is scandalous throughout the meat production industry, but the deliberate inducement of a pathological condition in the fowls.

Just curious. That and I also like to "get" the joke... what is it that she finds funny about 港币? To a Shanghainese ear, it sounds just like an epithet roughly translatable as "dumb c*nt." Probably funnier when the Queen's picture was on it.

My Shanghainese wife is in stitches everytime she hears Hong Kong currency referred to as "gang bi".

Thanks. The Zhou Xuan songs are the most popular part of the website. I think it will morph into more of an Old Shanghai or "haipai" website. I have most of her recorded output, I think, plus video clips of her singing in movies, and may dump it all on the website, but I'm looking for good (not literal) translations of the titles. Wanna help? I'm planning to move the dumpling stuff to another website. I'm such a xiaolong bao nut that I registered the domain name xiaolongbao.com. Maybe I'll immortalize Jason with that great picture of him attacking a xiaolong bao at China 46 (as if he weren't immortal already). How long have you been away from Shanghai? If it's more than 10 years, you'll find yourself gawking like a "xiangxiaren".

I couldn't resist posting these wonderful photo links for Jeannie. They were taken at the downstairs takeout window of the most famous xiaolong bao emporium in the universe. The photographer is Kingston Chang (remember the days of REAL film photography? ) Pic 1 shows the assembly of the beauties through the window: http://www.pgallery.net/photo-lib/image/la...ang01-48428.jpg The second pic shows the view from the takeout line. I waited an HOUR in line one day for $1 worth of dumplings (16 pieces!) and not a soul in line was grouching about the wait: http://www.pgallery.net/photo-lib/image/la...ang02-48427.jpg Bingo! The happy moment of reaching the window. The woman is pouring the de rigeur Zhenjiang Vinegar from the pitcher: http://www.pgallery.net/photo-lib/image/la...ang03-48429.jpg You can download higher-resolution images from the website for fair use. I'm using the second one as wallpaper on my laptop.

Jo-Mel is right, the one on the right is "Shanghai Bok Choy", a.k.a. qing cai. It's an everyday vegetable in Shanghai. Usually it's not chopped as small as you did, and it's usually braised with nothing else save oil and seasoning (though the small ones are sometimes used as a garnish for dishes like "lion's head" meatballs).

They look about right to me. Here's a picture of a serious shengjian bao operation in Shanghai:

Guess I should do my homework before I post! Apparently the famous scenery is equally accessible from both places, but Yangshuo is smaller and more of a back-packer's delight. (But probably fewer luxury hotels).

Beijing, Xi'an and Changchun will have plenty of beef and lamb dishes. I've never been to Guilin, but from all I've heard I woldn't pass up on it. Probably most famous evocative scenery can be found there. On the other hand, perhaps you are like me: half a day of nature is enough!

Then Mandarin is shengjian bao. Thanks to aprilmei for teaching us the Cantonese! On English restaurant menus here they're typically called "pan fried pork dumplings".

A hearty welcome, and I hope you keep posting. It'll be interesting to get the view from the UK on Shanghainese food and Chinese food in general. Where are you? I've heard Manchester has a lot of Chinese restaurants as well as London. Is the Chinese food better in any particular city? Where is the Shanghainese restaurant, and how is the other food? A few Shanghainese restaurants in San Francisco have them. One place in (Shanghai Dumpling Shop, which also has good xiaolong bao) does them very well, though they aren't as deliciously fatty as the ones on the streets of Shanghai. It's hard finding really good salty doujiang here, that's something else I miss.

So many Chinese restaurants in America's heartland have Crab Rangoon on the menu that many people are convinced that it's a Chinese dish, when actually it was invented by "Trader" Vic Bergeron, who also invented the Mai Tai cocktail. Crab Rangoon, for those fortunate enough to be ignorant of its existence, is typically a fried wonton stuffed with cream cheese and imitation crab. Chinese who migrate to the US, though, usually end up liking pizza and the melted cheese on it, so it's probably only a matter of time until cheese in some form creeps into Chinese cuisine. A dinner guest whom we invited for an (all-Chinese-food) dinner brought pears and gorgonzola cheese for dessert. My wife like the gorgonzola so much our guest gave her the remainder of the wedge. She later proceeded to stuff toufu with it, and made "mock chou doufu!"

I guess they make sense to someone who wants to believe them. Instead of hearsay, why not look at a careful and dispassionate investigation of the situation, from the document that was the basis for the EU's decision to impose a ban of foie gras in France..... Welfare Aspects of the Production of Foie Gras in Ducks and Geese

Sam Lok on Jackson St. (SF Chinatown) has decent Sichuan food. Some people swear by China Village in Albany, but I never cross the bay these days. Most Sichuan places in the Bay Area (and perhaps the US) tend to focus on a single dimension (e.g. the heat) of Sichuan cuisine, which is in fact very complex. Apart from cured meats, I don't think there's a lot to Hunan cuisine that doesn't overlap with Sichuan. I think some Chinese Restaurants call themselves "Hunan" because it's easier to spell "Hunan" than "Sichuan" (or worse, "Szechuan").

I can't comment on that one because I totally avoid restaurants that proclaim "NO MSG". The Chariman would not be amused. On second thought, he probably would be amused.

It came from the link in Exotic Mushroom's post (three above this one). Are you disputing its factuality? I'm no PETA fan (carnivore that I am) but "inhumane" seems fair to me.

So much for the arguments about the ban putting small family farms out of business.

Er, shouldn't that be Moon Tea? Or maybe you live in Barrow, Alaska. We used to make tea with cold water in a mason jar, placing it on a window ledge so it could catch the sun's rays. It was known as "Squaw Tea."

There's a Ten Ren on the main drag in Chinatown, but I haven't found them particularly helpful. They mostly serve tourists, and lately they're pushing bubble tea.

Obviously not Darwin stubbies....

"Cultural concierge," I love it! Thanks for a great example of how life imitates satire.

I think it's reputed (with some clinical evidence) to both help prevent cancer and to retard tumor growth in certain kinds of cancers. All I can tell you is that I drink green tea and don't have cancer, as far as I know. Fortunately, I have no personal experience with the latter use. Red teas, of the other hand, are reputed to lower cholesterol and be otherwise beneficial to the heart. Maybe we should all be drinking both.