Shanghai Grill

So excited for this weekend, since I finally have a few days off after becoming the new "garbage disposal" of unwanted shifts. Don't get me wrong, after a long hiatus of not working (why didn't I blog more then?!), it's a nice change, but my schedule is all messed up from the usual vices of working in the hospitality industry (aka. work late, eat late, drink late, then stay up all wired from work T__T). 


Over the last two weeks, I have fallen into a nasty cycle of sleep-work-eat-sleep-work, so that being said, I have tons of backlogged food porn and reviews on my camera! Well, here's a good one for Shanghai Grill, because I've actually got two visits worth of photos in this review ^___^(V). FOOD PORN HEAVY! EhEhehehEHeheheHE.

Front entrance to Shanghai Grill - yayayayay look at that bright smiling "OPEN" sign!

 Every time we come to Shanghai Grill, we make a point of ordering at least one of the soups. I think I've finally had a chance to try them all, with the exception of the Hot and Sour soup, because I'm personally not a big fan. This time, we got three different soups:

Shredded Chicken and Vegetable Soup with Noodles:
This soup had a really nice chicken flavor to it, with a milky quality reminiscent of a soup that had been boiled over high heat at a "rolling boil". The vegetables were shanghai bok choi, and the noodles were wheat based, with a texture slightly softer than al dente. I suspect they use fresh noodles - does anybody else know?

Shredded chicken and vegetable soup noodle

Salted Pork and Vegetable Soup:

Generous hunks of Chinese salted pork (see the red bacon-esque meat below!) as well as lean pork. The soup was a pork and chicken base with a significant amount of pepper in it, both white and black. The other distinct thing I found in this soup was the tofu skin knots! If you've never had them, the texture is a bit chewy, and the flavor is distinctly tofu/soya bean like. I know saying something tastes like "tofu" is a bit off putting, but it's similar to concentrated and salted soya milk, if you will.

So although I've always inherently (hahah oh, and by that I mean, it's been pounded into my mind by year of eating and cooking) known or positively experimented with which type of pepper to use while cooking, I realized that I don't know too much about pepper itself.

So inner fatty, meet inner nerd and rejoice! A bit about pepper...

Apparently, black pepper is the world's most traded spice, which I guess makes sense as it's found on pretty much every dinner table. The peppercorns are derived from the drupe, or the fruit, of the Piper nigrum plant, while the spiciness comes from the chemical piperine. The major difference between black and white pepper, is that while black pepper comes from drying the whole unripe drupe, white pepper consists of the seed within the drupe only. Black pepper is considered spicier than white pepper due to qualities present in the external skin, which is also responsible for the difference in flavor. 

In my experience cooking with pepper, unless black pepper is freshly ground, it's not spicy in the least, whereas white pepper retains its spicy quality even when pre-ground, so I've always found white pepper to have a more distinctive, fragrant heat when used, especially in soup. 

Anyways, enough talk about pepper, onto the next course!

Rice cakes in Assorted Meat and Vegetable Soup:

So I'm always hesitant to order something that says "assorted meat," but since this was the only rice cake in soup dish, we went ahead and ordered it. The meat turned out to be Chinese BBQ pork (cha tsiew) and chicken - ahhh did I just hear a sigh of relief? - while the vegetables turned out to be siu choi, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, snow peas, and baby corn.The soup, was probably just a simple chicken/pork broth.

Now rice "cake" is probably not the best translation for what it is, since these are nothing like the dry popped rice cracker cakes that people who are dieting and hate their lives typically eat. The rice cakes I'm talking about, are more similar to a rice "bagel" if you will - they are made with rice flour and water, then kneaded until they firm and cut into slices, before being either cooked in soup or a stir fry. A dried version can also be found at the local Oriental supermarket, but I rarely cook with them as I find they get too starchy. Fresh ones can be used directly and cook the fastest, whereas refridgerated ones simply need to be soaked in cold water.

Rice Cakes in Assorted Meat and Vegetable Soup

Slices of rice cake, chilling with a slice of carrot

Ahhh, now the real stars of the show arrive! If you must try anything at a Shanghainese restaurant, it would be their dumplings, and the dumplings at Shanghai Grill are no exception.

Pan Fried Dumplings - available with pork or beef 

(GET BEEF!!!! SERIOUSLY! SUPER NOM NOM STATUS <3 <3 <3 )

Now typically you don't see beef in this type of dumpling, since beef has a very distinct meat flavor that sometimes overwhelms the delicate balance of a dumpling (that and pork is cheaper). However, I highly suggest that you try these ones - they are AMAZING. The first time I bit into one, there was so much juice in it that the other end of the dumpling exploded... directly on to the face of the unlucky friend sitting across from me. I've since learned to bite gently and facing downwards (hahahahahha that's what she said XD ).

Eat these with the black vinegar/sugar/soy/ginger sauce they provide. NOM NOM NOMMMM!!!

Pan Fried Beef Dumplings

Bottom of the Pan Fried Beef Dumpling - look how golden brown that ass is! Sexxxxyyyyy!!

Look how juicy the inside of that dumpling is! Mmmmm fatty beef inside ^____^

 The other amazing dumpling dish here is the Shanghainese Dumplings, or Xiao Long Bao (XLB). Shanghai Grill is the only place that does these the right way - a thin skin strong enough to support the soup filled dumpling, a well flavored meat filling, and enough soup of course!

Shanghainese Dumplings, Xiao Long Bao:
I have had these here many times, and I've only been disappointed once, when the skins were a bit too thin and I broke a few of the dumplings trying to pick them up T_T. Otherwise, nothing short of DERICIOUS! Another must order on the menu! I've tried both the regular and the crab, but I think the regular ones are better in terms of flavor and value. Dip in the black vinegar provided, sip the soup, and then but the whole damn thing in your mouth (that's what he said hahahahahahahhahaha okay I'm sorry, I know that this is a pervy post, but I've had a long night and not enough sleep okay). Don't burn your mouth though!

XLB - Ahhh a thing of beauty. Even the pleats are cute!

XLB again, look closely, you can see the soup inside! Nommy!!!

Action shot! Getting this shot was hard as normally after taking the first bite and sucking out the soup, I have a 2 second interval before scarfing down the rest of the dumpling with a shit eating grin on my face...

Sticky Rice Roll with Chinese Donut, Pickled Vegetables, and Pork Floss (tsee fan):
I've never seen this on the menu, I just order "tsee fan" and they bring me this. It is a glutinous rice roll rolled like Japanese maki sushi, filled with a Chinese donut (yow tiao), pork floss (yuk soong), and pickled vegetable (tsa choi). It is also usually sprinkled with sugar inside, since the combination of sweet and savoury plays a large role in Shanghainese cuisine. I personally find the pork floss sweet enough, so I tend to order this without sugar.

I'd say that the best place to get this rice roll is actually at T&T Supermarket, as they make it to order and there are over 15 fillings you can choose from!

Sticky Rice Roll

"Red Braised" Pork Belly over Pea Shoots:

Normally, pork belly cooked in this manner would be a treat, since it's obviously sinfully rich and fatty. The skin, fat, and a small portion of meat (similar to bacon if bacon came in chunks rather than strips), are all slowly braised in soy sauce, fermented bean paste, sugar, assorted spices - such as star anise, liquorice, fennel (usually the ones in 5 spice), and cooking wine. I personally cannot eat more than one piece of this, even though it is very flavorful, simply because the pork was way too fatty. The process tends to impart a red/brown color to the food, but I suspect they added some red food coloring in this one to really get the point across...

"Red Braised" Pork Belly over Pea Shoots

Shanghai Noodle Stirfy:

This is probably one of the most common noodle stirfries that you can even find in Westernized Chinese restaurants and buffets, but in reality, a good one takes some level of skill to make - the noodles should be al dente, with crisp cabbage, juicy shiitake mushrooms, julienned carrots, strips of pork, all stirfried in a sweet soy sauce. The key thing is that there should be "wok hei" - the flavor that a really hot wok imparts to a good stirfy without it being overly greasy. 

This was just ok... I wouldn't order it again.

Shanghai Noodle Stirfy
Sorry for the bad image quality! Clearly I was not impressed by this dish as evident by my lack of care in taking the photo :\

Dan Dan Noodles:

I LOVE THESE. If you love peanuts, you will also love this. If you are allergic to peanuts, well then, don't even bother breathing, you'll blow up like a balloon. Make sure you ask the server to cook the noodles chewier, or less done, because this is really epic when the noodles are al dente (sometimes they overcook them, which ruins the whole dish -__-;;). Topped with fresh scallions, roasted peanuts, pickled vegetables, chili oil, in a slightly sweet peanut/sesame soup. 

DAN DAN NOODLES!!

HehEHeHEH look at us fatties. Ok, let it be known that T and I did not eat all the above in one sitting, the photos from above are from two SEPERATE meals. Anyways, definitely worth the trek out to the far west, and I will definitely be back. Service varies per visit, but so far, food is fairly consistent. Nom on!

Fat personalities... in love... <3