Shanghai Yummies-Pt 1 Small Bites

Chinese food is one of the major highlight of my recent Shanghai trip, which i really have to thank my company business counterparts who had generously hosted me for good lunch. I’ve always aware of the fact that luxurious meals is a custom for the Shanghainese to welcome the guest. However its still a big shock to me when i see a table full of 6-7 different dishes for 3 person meal, its enough to feed a team of hungry footballers! Frankly, i’m actually abit annoyed to see so much of leftovers went to waste as the table is still quite full of food even after everyone done eating.

Nevertheless, food is a major element in Chinese culture, hence the best way to understand China is to hunt for its street food, which i think was much more enjoyable and adventorous.

中国人说，民以食为天，这话真是不错。这次的上海之旅的确让我大开眼 界。虽然一直以来已风闻有关中国食品的种种负面报导，例如猪肉“瘦肉精”，谷类食品和腐竹中“吊白块”，及最近的中国毒奶粉等。但美食当前，我也管不了这 么多，怀着视死如归的精神，赴汤蹈火寻街头美食去了！

早餐 My Breakfast-小龙包 small dragon bun，肉馅饼，乳酸奶 (草莓口味) yogurt drink

There are a variety of cheap packet drink available in Shanghai compare to Malaysia. Even for yogurt! i tried the strawberry flavor, tasted not too bad.

巧克力口味 chocolate flavor drink (its so weird to see different type of chocolate drink other than the usual dutch lady and milo)

Shanghainese drinks ‘wong lou kat’ like mineral water

油葱饼

肉包子
迷你汉堡 small hamburger, 肉馅饼

Popiah look alike wrap

浙肉夹摸

Muachi-Sweet Glutinous Rice ball

大娘水饺

肉包子

肉棕子 Chinese Dumpling

小龙包

The funny thing about 小龙包 is that the price varied so much compare to the one you get in high class chinese restaurant in Malaysia (such as 鼎泰丰), which is around RM20. In Shanghai, it cost me RMB 10 (RM5) for a tray of the 8 pieces small dragon buns in common chinese restaurant. When i went for the street side 小龙包, the same amount only cost me RMB5 (RM2.50)!

I went….. stoned, on the spot.

The realization had made decided to eat 小龙包 for:

Breakfast

Tea Break

Dinner
….. and whenever i am hungry!

Birthday Cupcakes

Say good byes to the traditional birthday cakes and even the ice cream birthday cakes, Behold, here comes the birthday cupcakes!

My boss received a box full of birthday cupcakes for her birthday yesterday, all the female colleagues went “Aawwwwww…” at the first sight and then followed by non stop camera flashes (including me of course). So guys out there, you know what to get for your girlfriend for birthdays next time. I have to say its really creative and its tasty too.

This is the one i’ve ate, yummy

Beggar Chicken @ New Heong Kee Restaurant

For my sister-in-law’s birthday last weekend we patronized this hidden gem that is situated pretty close to where I stay. It’s main attraction is the beggar chicken (or duck upon request).  Beggar chicken is a dish where a marinated whole chicken is wrapped with lotus leaves, aluminium foil and a layer of dough and baked for 3 hours in an oven. That’s the modern way. The old school way is here (along with some back story of its origins) where the chicken is wrapped with mud and baked for a longer period of time. As the sign says, we had to make reservations a day in advance for the chicken to be prepared.

The establishment was decently packed and was served with Acar (pickled vegetables) as an appetizer.

The food did not take long to arrive at our table. We ordered pork ribs in herb sauce, romaine lettuce in creamy sauce and a fish dish that was not worthy to be elaborated on. The portions were decent for a family of 4. The pork was amazing. It was herbish in flavor, tender and moist which is how a good roast should be.

The next is the star of the show. I eagerly made my way to the preparation area and got a shot of a worker ripping open the wrap of the chicken. It doesnt look pretty but I assure you it tastes good.

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The meat is so tender that you could rip the flesh with a mere scooping action with a spoon, like so

Upon the arrival of the chicken, the table of food was cleared in a span of 10-15 minutes for that something that took 8 hours (this is what the  worker told us) to prepare

The entire meal of 4 dishes costed us RM 110. Here’s the contact details of the establishment

New Heong Kee Beggar’s Chicken

446, Batu 7½, Jalan Ulu Kelang, 68000 Selangor (near Zoo Negara, just after the Shell petrol station along the MRR2 highway)

Tel: 03 4106 8698 / 016 393 2632

Business hours: Noon to 10pm

Close: Open every day

Terms: Cash

Budget: $$ (RM10 to RM20 per person)

Type of food: Chinese

Pho in 3 minutes!

I love instant noodles and yes i know its not good for health, but there are certain things in life which we just can’t resist anyway. Some people cant overcome the urge to shop (shopaholic), to stores thing (hoarders), to eat or drink (binge eaters and drinkers) etc., For me, i cant resist instant noodle, ice cream, pork, moist chocolate cakes/fudge and the list go on, blame it on my sweet tooth. Well, as long the urge doesnt consume or cripple your life, i dont think its a big issue anyway.

Come back to instant noodle, there are so many flavors and variety of instant noodles nowadays, its easy to prepare, yummy and filling, who can resist a 3 minutes satisfying meal? Mind you, Instant noodle may not necessarally spell for cheap, I still remember there was one time when i ordered this soup noodle called 出前一丁 in a Hong Kong restaurant which cost like RM10++, and only realized later that the noodle was the instant mee noodle. At first i couldnt understand why is it named in such an alien way which confuse people, but if you think logically, 出前一丁means you just ‘ding’ before you left. I assume that the ‘ding’ refer to the usual microwave ‘ding’ sound, which implies fast and simple.

In my recent trip to Vietnam, one of the ‘souveniers’ i bought for myself are PHO INSTANT NOODLES!! It cost 3000 dong (which is around RM0.75) per pack, and i am amazed with the fact that there are so many different brands and varieties available in the mini mart.

Pho Bo typically means Beef noodles, and Pho Ga means chicken noodles. The dried rice noodles are thinner than the regular PHO rice noodle and i think thats why you can cook/microwave/boil the noodles in 3 minutes. Then they have this usual oil and MSG Pack which contains the granules and dehydrated vegetables, meats and FAT bits (no joking it was stated at the packing). The soup was thick and tasty (a bity oily though), and its taste like cheap vietnamese pho. of course real PHO with freshly prepared broth and nice thin beef slices is the best, but for RM0.75, Not bad at all.


These are two other types, namely stewed pork with mushroom flavor (yuhuuu, Pork instant noodle!) and Pepper beef flavor. Anyway, i have been restraining myself with max 1 pack of instant noodle per week, since i havent taken any this week so i will spoil myself with yummy instant pork noodle this saturday. Muahahahaha (*evil laugh)

Al Fresco: Best Pork Ribs in Hanoi

Located beside the Ho Kiem Lake at Hai Ba Trung Street, Alfresco is the perfect Western restaurant to go to in Hanoi if you are over saturated with Vietnamese food and hunger for some good carnivorous meal. It is the home to all western favorites from Pasta, pizza, mexican to burgers, and the self proclaimed ‘best ribs in Vietnam’.

The environment inside is cozy and comfortable, with dim lights and warm tranquility. Big colorful menus hanging on the wall, bottles of ‘today’s special’ wine seating on the bar, for westerern tourists , this is very much homey to them. However, for Malaysian like me, this smells of expensive dining and big dollars.

Me and my mates have ordered shop famous Junior Pork Ribs, Alfresco Special very thin crust pizza and apple crumbles. The Pork Ribs here are to die for, so succulent and delicious, even Toni Romas in Singapore cannot beat them. The dish come together with fresh salad roasted potatoes. They also have mini and Jumbo size to cater for the big eaters.

The pizza did not fail us either. The thin crusty pizza was fantastic, its as though you are biting a crunchy tin biscuit rather than the usual Pizza hut thick pizza bread, the topping are consist of Ham, pepperoni, chilli beef, bell peppers, onion, pineapple, mozzarella cheese. Its very fresh and with hot Tabasco oil (its like the chilli oil but not so pepperish, i was tempted to ask whether i can buy one bottle from Alfresco), its tasted perfectly.

Microscopic view

The entire meal cost us USD 18, i would say the price is fair, cuz it will cost around the same in similar restaurants in Malaysia. So for those who planned to travel to Hanoi, dont forget to drop by at:

Al Fresco’s
23L Hai Ba Trung
Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
Tel: 04-826 7782