I have been in a bit of a food rut of late. China is not like Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia, where great food and smells are around nearly every corner. Usually I see women in pyjamas and pink plastic flip flops locked in mortal combat bargaining over a few live bullfrogs or the odd sea cucumber. It doesn’t make me that hungry.
So, as I was saying before, I have been in a bit of a food rut, walking a goat track between the Korean BBQ, Yangs, my favourite BBQ guy and Carrefour for my daily sustenance. I am on a first name basis with at least 3 Sherpa’s drivers……it’s gotten sad, almost beyond salvation.
So I decided tonight, I would head out into the wilds of Pudong and see what was on offer, armed with a few trusty work mates we ended up in this Szechuan place in Pudong.
We had a number of cold dishes, cooked chicken in peppercorn oil, rice noodles in peppercorn oil, golden pie and the highlight of the evening, Grilled Fish. I think the characters are these 烤鱼. Anyone who can speak Chinese for real, please use the comments to correct me.
Those two words, grilled fish, cannot describe the alchemy, the sheer magic and interplay of garlic, chillies, peppercorns and ginger, balanced against a whole grilled fish, rubbed down with a dry mix of spices and grilled over open coals. The fish is the only fish I have eaten in Shanghai that didn’t taste like dirt.
This single night has re-ignited my interest in Chinese food and the lads at work and I have decided to work our way through all 8 of the Chinese cuisines.
Oh and it was damn cheap, around RMB 160 for 3 people…….what’s not to like.
