Last meal in Shanghai stays local

For our final meal in Shanghai before the night train to Beijing, we had very little choice. We had not yet had a true Shanghainese meal yet! V came to the rescue with a place famous for it, nestled into a hotel near the Jing'an Temple.

The first dish was a sugar-soaked sponge tofu dish. It was a nice start. The texture was fun to eat, softly responding to each bite. The sugar, too, wasn't cloying, as they had gotten the amount right.

Next was a dish with a great name, vegetarian goose. No goose whatsoever, it is actually tofu and mushrooms. the tofu is made into sheets, dried, and wrapped around warm cooked shiitake mushrooms. A good presentation of this tasty if simple dish.

Third brought an interesting cold dish of pig tripe and mushrooms in chilli oil. The blend and balance here was fantastic! The tripe was crunchy with no off tastes or smells. The mushrooms were a delicious small variety with bright brown caps. And the oil seasoning was done with a light hand, which let the flavor and the spice build over the course of sampling this dish.

Then the main arrived, red-braised pork, often called Chairman Mao's pork as he was quite fond of this dish. It was accented by a handful of tea smoked eggs. The pork was rich and luxurious, bathing in its syrupy sauce of Shaoxing wine, vinegar, and soy. Each piece of pork was no less than 50% fat, as it was all enormous chunks of pork belly. Quite filling, defiantly unhealthy, yet we couldn't help but eat this one all the way to the end.

As vegetarian yin to the pork's yang, we got some pea shoots (with a little bit of pork). Ah, how I love pea shoots. So tender yet so full of green flavor! This dish was no exception. The pork, while note needed, perhaps added a little more savoriness to the plate.

It being Shanghai, this being our last night, we were not leaving without more xiao long bao. These were definitely a solid version. Not the most heavenly bite of dumpling I've had, but a heckuva lot better than the dumplings near Yuyuan Gardens. A great cap to a very delicious meal.