Shanghai Shenanigans: Friday Foods

Damian Walker
Jul 21, 2017 · 6 min read

When I arrived in Shanghai, I knew little Chinese beyond nĭ hăo (hello) and xièxie (thank you), so something as simple as trying to order food became a huge challenge. It usually began with me pulling out my translator, realizing my translation probably made the situation worse because of the complicated grammar differences, and eventually drawing pictures and playing charades. I’m no Picasso, but the pictures seemed to work well in getting the message across.

To further complicate matters, along with having minimal Chinese language skills, I have been a vegetarian for almost eight years, and unfortunately in China, people love to cook most foods with either meat or meat broths. Nevertheless, I was able to find many vegetarian-friendly dishes and, for the most part, they have not disappointed!

Personal Taste Rating Scale:

Low 1★★★★★ High 5

Ma Qiu

2 RMB ($0.29 USD)

Personal Taste Rating: ★★★★★

The ma qiu ball is by far one of my favorite Chinese breakfast dishes. It is made of glutinous rice, filled with dòushā, and covered with sesame seeds. It has a unique sweet taste and is very chewy. My orthodontists probably wouldn’t approve, but what they don’t know, won’t hurt.

If you are health-conscious, this dish is very oily, but I would 100% recommend trying it at least once. You won’t regret it!

Spicy Tofu and Rice

12 RMB ($1.76)

Personal Taste Rating: ★★★★★

The tofu is cooked with a strong, spicy blend of red pepper, green pepper, and a sauce that I have yet to identify. If you have never had tofu before, I recommend trying it for your first time as a part of this dish. Tofu has this unique ability to capture the taste of what it is cooked in, so the tofu in this dish amazingly brings together the spices in this dish. However, for those who are not into terribly spicy food, it is served with steamed white rice to soften the spice.

Kimchi with Tofu

35 RMB ($5.16 USD)

Personal Taste Rating: ★★★★

I’ve had kimchi before in the US, so I knew what I was getting myself into. It is a Korean dish made with mostly cabbage, but also various other vegetables, and topped with chili peppers. The special red sauce gives it a seafood taste, while the cabbage makes it crunchy and the chili peppers makes it mildly spicy. If you have never had tofu before, trying the kimchi by itself may be best. Raw tofu’s jiggly texture and blandness makes it a taste that has to be acquired. In contrast to the spicy tofu (above), this tofu was not marinated in the flavoring, so the kimchi only enhances the surface of the tofu.

Stir-fried Noodles and Mixed Vegetables

9 RMB ($1.33 USD)

Personal Taste Rating: ★★★

If you have ever had hibachi, this dish pretty much works and tastes the same way. You pick out the ingredients that you want and the chef cooks it fresh. In my stir-fried noodles, I enjoy soy bean sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and tofu balls. I cannot distinguish the various vegetable taste when eating, but they all give it their own unique texture. The soy bean sprouts are very stringy and have hardened, yet edible balls, at their ends, the cabbage and the cauliflower gives it a fresh crunch, and the tofu balls are chewy. To enrich the flavor of this dish, the chef gives it a salted seasoning. I’m not sure what specifically is in the seasoning, but if you are ever at Donghua University, give it a try!

Cold Noodles with Mixed Vegetables and Nuts

11 RMB ($1.62 USD)

Personal Taste Rating: ★★★

As the name implies, this dish is served cold (more like room temperature) and the main ingredient is noodles! Mixed with the noodles is salt, a hint of red pepper, kelp, cucumbers, peanuts, and miàn jīn.

The noodles are long and chewy, so I have found that instead of trying to bite off a piece from the chopsticks, chewing a full strand in your mouth makes eating easier. The cucumber and peanuts are a familiar taste that give the dish a nice crunch. The kelp gives it a mild seafood taste and smell but it is balanced by the spicy smell and taste of the red pepper. Miàn jīn kind of taste like tofu but has more of a sponge texture. Together the ingredients form a unique taste.

Yellow-flesh Watermelon

20 RMB ($2.95 USD)

Personal Taste Rating: ★★★

From the outside it looks exactly like the red-flesh watermelons that I am accustomed to at home, but inside is a bright yellow flesh.

With my first bite, I noticed it had a familiar watermelon taste but was slightly sweeter, almost as if it was glazed with honey. If you like the red-flesh watermelon you will definitely like this one even more! My Chinese roommate says you can eat the seeds, but I’m not a fan.

Green Onion Pancake (Cōng Yóu Bǐng)

1 RMB ($0.15 USD)

Personal Taste Rating: ★★

This dish is special because I have asked various people what it tastes like and they have given me different answers. I’ve also tasted it various times, and it tastes different each time. My roommate says he think it tastes sweet, but I think it tastes like garlic bread or pizza without the sauce at other times. It’s possible they change the ingredients from time to time.

This pancake is great if you want something quick and filling to eat to hold you over until a bigger meal. In the dining hall on campus, they make this during breakfast, but I think it would be great to eat with red-sauced spaghetti noodles. The bread is a little tough to bite apart, but remembering you only paid 1 RMB tends to nullify any and all complaints.

Rice Porridge

Personal Taste Rating: ★

BLAND! Eaten at any time of day, rice porridge is simple boiled rice and water. It tastes somewhat like watery grits. It’s very popular among the locals, but personally, I believe it would taste much better with salt and butter.

When I first tried to stomach rice porridge, I naturally reached for a spoon, but the locals use chopsticks.

Rice Porridge with JuJube

12 RMB ($1.77 USD)

Personal Rating: ★

I decided to give rice porridge a second chance with some added flavoring — it didn’t help. The reddish fruit is jujube. While it is relatively sweet, it could not overpower the blandness of the rice. Instead of tasting like bland grits, it then tasted like bland, watery oatmeal.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to check Shanghai Shenanigans: Snack Edition sometime next week!

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