Comments on: Shanghainese Dinner @ Wang Jia Sha

By: Harold (SMM)

Harold (SMM) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:48:44 +0000

Sounds like a great place to eat. Had to laugh at your Panda Express comment. Glad to know that they outscored them by a country mile.

By: Sandwich

Sandwich — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 23:57:25 +0000

Most of these pics looks very delicious. I will give it a try next time I drive up from San Diego ! Thanks for the tip !

By: Jack Murray

Jack Murray — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:52:38 +0000

@Louise In my restaurant I make “A standard vegetarian Shanghainese dish is kou fu”. I cover shiitake mushroom, dried lily flower and bamboo with Indian patan ghee. Its aroma changes the flavor of the dish and feels like meet while eating ..Cheers

By: Pepsi Monster

Pepsi Monster — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:09:46 +0000

It never hurts to order XLB in a Shanghai restaurant.

I’m a little curious, do they have any Ham Hock in this place or the pork knuckle? If they have it, I’ll be there.

It’s a shame they didn’t do a good job on the Shanghai Rice Cakes (Nien Gao). It’s like making Pad Thai at a Thai Restaurant, it’s not very hard to cook Nien Gao correctly at a Shanghai place.

By: Louise

Louise — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:58:39 +0000

Hm, I’ve never had it at dim sum before, but your description of it sounds the same. I guess the correct pinyin is ‘kao fu’ but I always write ‘kou fu”.

By: glutster

glutster — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:35:11 +0000

Ah…so ko fu is what that dish is called?

I’ve had something really similar that at Lunasia Dim Sum last time, cooked with mushrooms and deep, salty caramel like sauce (not oyster sauce).

Anyways, nice photos!

By: MaxMillion

MaxMillion — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:39:20 +0000

Interesting. Thanks, Louise. I always learn so much from your posts.

By: Louise

Louise — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:36:57 +0000

@MaxMillion
Yes, it’s the dish above. It’s wheat gluten and completely vegetarian. It looks like meat and can be used as a substitute as meat in a lot of Chinese dishes. The Shanghainese preparation is to braise it in a sugar + soy sauce with spices like star anise. Sometimes it has other things in it like shiitake mushroom, dried lily flower, and bamboo. It can be eaten hot, but most restaurants serve it as a cold appetizer plate. I like it but it might be weird if you’re having it for the first time because it has a spongy, chewy texture.

By: MaxMillion

MaxMillion — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:32:20 +0000

Hi! you wrote “A standard vegetarian Shanghainese dish is kou fu,” — was that in ref to the photo above? That dish looks like meat to me, yet you say it is vegetarian.

Please tell me a bit more about that particular dish.