Shanghai ChefsAbout the Culinary World of Shanghai

… of turkeys, Christmas banquettes and the annual Food Show. I have to say that the food show this year was much more informative and pleasant than previous ones. It was a nice surprise to see that most of the vendors actually exhibited produce that is available in Shanghai. This was not the case in past years.

Security at the entrance was also stricter this time around, which meant fewer freeloaders who only attend for the samples. Some of the exhibitors were actually knowledgeable about their product and able to relay useful information. A pleasant surprise, indeed.

However, the same cannot be said about the food competition area. As somebody who has participated in various competitions around the world, this event was quite disappointing and uninspiring.

And now, Christmas…I don’t know how many of you follow the ‘Takeaway Turkey Scene’ in Shanghai – but I find it very curious that this seems to get more expensive every year. Flipping through various expat magazines, I could not help but notice the prices charged for a festive takeaway.

Now I know that you pay for convenience, and that the meal usually covers a party of 5 or more, inclusive of all or at least some trimmings. But does a Christmas dinner consisting of turkey, mashed potatoes and yams really worth between ¥1,000 (at its cheapest) to ¥2,100?

Christmas is not really a big business driver in Shanghai. A lot of Christmas banquettes are unfortunately quite traditional; i.e. boring. I mean there has to be more to Christmas than Chocolate Santas and Minced Pies squeezed in-between the regular offering.

There are some hotels (namely the Hilton and Hyatt) that manage to portray a festive atmosphere while keeping the price in line. So, kudos to these places. It is nice to see that despite all the financial pressure, some hotels still decide to use the opportunity to spread some much needed Christmas Spirit – because looking at some of the prices charged for Christmas & New Years Menus, you really need a lot of ‘festive spirit’ to prevent from blowing up.

I think the days where customers are prepared to pay big $$$ just because it says Champagne and Goose Liver (and let’s be honest, is it Goose or Duck Liver?) are over. But that is a topic for another blog.

More importantly though, let’s not forget that we are in the service industry. A lot of people that come into our Hotels & Restaurants over Christmas are looking for a good time with their loved ones. So let’s make sure that we put on a smile when we go out there in our operations. Let’s make sure that we still offer them the service & product they came for. After all, we are all in the same boat. You take care of them, they take care of you.

On this light note, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!

Alfred B. (a wisely chosen pseudonym) is an executive sous chef that has been residing in Shanghai for the past several years. He is our up-to-date person on current events taking place in the food scene. For legal purposes, we cannot reveal his true identity but you can be sure there will be no candy-coated articles from him

As it is in any kitchen, a new chef always has a lot to prove when settling in with the crew. The newcomer has to show the crew he/she is worthy of their respect, camaraderie and in-jokes. Usually, this can be settled over a few drinking sessions. An unforgiving hangover the next day is hopefully the only consequence…unless if the newcomer proves to be an ass.

In Shanghai though, you’d be pretty safe in the drinking department, as it usually takes a bottle or two of the local ‘Tsing Tao’ beer before seeing the locals’ faces turn a shade of amber red. Since you’re in their territory however, what you can expect instead is a challenge in eating their local delicacies.

This requires more than an alcohol-immune system. It takes your own guts, a healthy sturdy stomach and the time to spend a couple of hours dedicated to the toilet the next day (if the first two fails you). There is no backing out of this commitment once you’ve agreed to it.

The allure of ‘hotpot’ is this: a boiling broth brought at the table accompanied with a variety of raw bit of meat, vegetables and noodles that you dip in and cook yourself. Made from beef bones, snake bones, fish bones or chicken bones, it is merely a basic stock. To add flavor, little bowls of dipping sauce is served. (One should stick to the garlic, soy sauce, coriander and chili combination).

“Where is the challenge?” you may be wondering.

We all enjoy our offal every now and then – deep fried lamb’s brain, veal sweetbreads, crispy pig ears, boudin noir – and it may not seem much of a challenge to eat it anywhere else in the world. But hotpot does not offer the familiar luxurious tastes that we are used to. It offers strips of raw offal, dipped into boiling flavorless broth, then into a dipping sauce (we recommend you submerge the organ into this concoction) then straight into the mouth.

The equivalent of boudin noir in Shanghai is pig’s blood tofu – a square coagulated blob of blood just as it is. One can find this dish in any hotpot restaurant. Eat as many of these and you’d be pretty well respected within your new crew. Eat that along with chewy bits of tripe, pigs intestines, fish balls and tongue slices, and you will be well on your way to being taken seriously and adored at the same time.

After heartily saying “gan bei!” – cheers – with each and everyone at the table copious amounts of times, you can expect some sort of rumble going on inside you. This is normal and to be expected. Take courage, push on through the night to the wee early hours of the morning and be comforted in the fact that you have made it through your first (though not the last) local hotpot experience.

As they say, “When in Rome…”

A monthly hotpot outing with the crew is one of the little tricks to keep the staff loyal and happy. Try staying away from lamb hotpots as slices of lamb fat dissolved into the broth makes the meal a hell of a lot harder to swallow down.

Feel the heat emanating from the steam of the hotpot, Tsing Tao making its way into your stomach, and the rumble of pig’s blood tofu. Gan Bei!

One of the most redoubtable nightlife spots of Shanghai is the Changshu Lu / Hengshan Lu area. Part of the French Concession area, the streets around this centre have undertaken somewhat of a transition since the early twentieth century.

Wrought iron railings, tree-lined avenues and ivy-coloured mansions from that era still remain, and are a reminder of Shanghai’s lavish days. Also known for being one of the 714 places in Shanghai which Chiang Kai-shek and his wife ‘once stopped for a cup of tea and a biscuit’ (an impressive historical fact that you can pass on to others) this area is entrenched with Shanghai’s golden days.

However, come nighttime, these historical sites become more than just an educational interest in China’s history. Innumerable watering holes have popped up in the area in the last ten or twenty years; a few of which are actually located within the old courtyard houses.

The trick is not finding bars here; it’s separating the wheat from the chaff. Head east and you will find bars that will leave you regretting you ever left home. Head west (towards Changshu Lu) and you will find the majority of the best locations on the side streets.

In need of pub grub and the familiar warmth that only a pint can give? Try British Bulldog, Paulaner Brauhaus, O’Malleys or Blarney Stone. Feel like some entertaining table top dancing and lively music? Head for Zapatas. Want to be seen among the cool and trendy in search for eye-candy? Then it’s Mao or Bistro Latitude for you.

A few more worthy destinations include Abbey Road (aptly designed with a Beatles décor and has good-priced European styled food), Oscars (decent selection of foreign beers) and Sasha’s (which has the capability to transport you out of Shanghai immediately as it is usually packed with expats). A little further away, at the Xujiahui end of Hengshan Lu, is Park Tavern – a new English-styled pub with quite an impressive selection of foreign beers and the friendliest, most accommodating staff outside that of a happy ending massage parlour. It is worth going out of the way for.

Although these locations are a main haunt of the expat crowds, there is far more than mere food and drink to be had at these watering holes. There is the whole social scene that goes with any “lao wai” (old foreigner) gathering spot. O’Malleys, for example, holds family-centred shindigs on Sundays during the summer and is involved in many expat sports competitions and organizations. It is also a favourite location come big-game time, with a number of large screen TVs regularly showing football, rugby, etc. The same can be said of British Bulldog, along with its three floors and live-music. Definitely a good area in which to conduct that most overused of English words in Shanghai: “networking.”

There is something very appealing and comforting about having such a vast array of pubs and bars within spitting distance of each other. For one, it makes bar-hopping a hell of a lot more convenient. It also means that the area is swarmed with taxis eagerly waiting to take you on a scenic route home. The advantage of having them line up in front of you though means that there is no need to shamelessly stumble along the streets in search of one.