Back in Sleepy Seattle and Off to Chinatown

On November 15, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Food, Seattle, Shanghai, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s taken a few weeks of settling into a new routine in the U.S. and obsessing over a new job for me to find my Seattle voice. When I found out we would be leaving Shanghai, I wondered what the hell I would write about in boring, sleepy Seattle. China was exciting and odd and wonderful all at the same time. Even reading the Shanghai Daily would produce laughs and a story to share. So, off to Chinatown we went today. Surely I would be inspired there!

WP_20141115_006 — James doing his best job to eat all the dim sum including my favorite–egg tarts.

As we wandered the quiet, deserted streets today on our way to Chinatown for lunch with James (yes, trying to recreate the past!), I noticed not one dude peeing in the street. Weird. In fact, there wasn’t hardly a soul to be seen anywhere in the downtown area. Where was the fruit lady and the shoe guy? Amazing when you go from 25 million people in a city to under 1 million you do feel a distinct difference in the pace and most sane people would appreciate it. Not me—I like the busy streets and hum of a vibrant urban environment. Shanghai! Manhattan!

At lunch, I couldn’t wait to taste and compare the egg tarts, one of my favorite delicacies that didn’t make me sick in Shanghai. Definitely not as good as what we had in China, but the Seattle version was still delicious. James dug into shrimp fried puffs, red bean paste sesame buns, barbeque buns and dumplings. I loved that when I spoke Chinese to the staff that they immediately knew what I was saying. Mydan! Check please! When we asked for “take way”, our waitress chided James to eat more so she could fit everything in one small box. Done. You don’t have to beg a 21Year old boy to eat more.

We walked through Chinatown, Seattle style, and ogled the pastries in the bakery. YUM. Hearing a soulful tune, we stopped to listen to the old guy in the park making beautiful music with his Erhu traditional string instrument while checking out the jumbo size lawn chess set available for all to play but no one was–everyone was too busy stuffing their faces with hot and steamy dim sum on this cold, crisp day with skies so blue and air so clean you could actually take deep breaths, which I couldn’t get enough of. It’s good to be home.

Shanghai Farewell Tour-Cooking Class v2.0

On October 6, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, China, Cooking Class, Food, Shanghai, TravelLeave a comment

We enjoyed our cooking class this summer with James so much that we just had to do it all over again with our visitors, Patti and Larry. What fun! With Dodo as our guide, we walked from the subway meeting point off the 10 line and walked to the local wet market for all our ingredients. For $50 US per person, our class of six headed to the market and then off to Helen’s apartment to learn how to cook Chinese style.

Marti and Emily, from the U.S. teaching at the International School in Shanghai, were our other class mates. These classes always attract such interesting people and we love hearing about their adventures. They had met in Thailand teaching and had taught in four countries. I can only imagine what fun they have learning from their diverse students and travelling the world. I’m not sure if that would fit our lifestyle but it is intriguing.

Back to the food, though. We had warned Patti and Larry to wear masks because the smells are POTENT PLUS at the market. The lower floor is all meat and seafood with claws and hooves taking center stage as well as live fish and turtles and frogs plus the option of black vs. white chicken. So many choices, especially for Emily, the vegetarian in our group. NOT! There were bones and meat everywhere with no refrigeration in sight. It’s just not done here in China.

Patti working with Dodo, our guide, to buy ingredients at the wet market

On the upper floor, you can buy your fruit, veggies, eggs (no refrigeration again), noodles and spices. We enjoyed learning that the darker eggs are less healthy than the lighter eggs because they are farm raised. The black eggs take one month to go through the salting process that make them black. Patti handled the money and bought our Chinese chives, garlic, sausage and eggplant. Our menu consisted of eggs with black fungus, spring rolls, paozi buns and eggplant with sauce.

Right off the bat, I almost sliced off a finger with the huge cleaver so Helen, the cooking instructor, quickly took it away from me and let me watch until I insisted I would be more careful. We chopped and mixed and fried our way to delicious (or so they tell me-I didn’t eat a thing due to my weak stomach) while we washed it all down with a rice wine that had some kick and tea.

Thom rocking the hat and apron at cooking class

Patti and Larry have much better knife skills than me

Saigon Eats

On September 10, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, China, Food, Holidays, Travel, Trips outside Shanghai, Uncategorized, Vietnam2 Comments

I am definitely NOT someone who enjoys going out to restaurants. Thom and I rarely go out back in Shanghai and can be very happy eating cereal for dinner. However, we enjoyed sampling the local cuisine in Saigon very much. There is no lack of LOTS of amazing restaurants in Saigon so off we went to enjoy the bold flavors and diverse selection plus the price is right! A multi-course meal at a nice place will set you back $40 US or 880,000Dong and that includes the necessary wine to accompany. Cheap!

We learned quickly to plan our excursions outside to include an umbrella as every day the clouds open up in the late afternoon and it dumps lakes onto the crowded streets. Our first full day, we encountered a huge thunderstorm so we managed to just make it across the street from the hotel to at Tandoori, a Middle Eastern place. We’ve become huge curry fans so we had a bold chicken curry with cheese nan and spicy grilled shrimp with saffron rice. As we watched the scooters navigate the water outside, we dug in first to the crisp veggie samosa with pungent sauces to dip into and practically licked the plates. I would have loved to try a new dessert but no room at the inn regretfully.

Not so the next night! I made sure to reserve room to try the strawberry custard while Thom took on the mango sorbet to end our evening. The Vietnamese restaurant where we went, Hoa Tuc, has a cooking school on the top floor which I read is quite good though we didn’t have time to try it out. This restaurant was tucked away with many other fine places in the Refinery, where they used to produce Opium and now just produce awesome food. For the main courses—we tried several out to sample. The coconut milk rice pancakes filled with shrimp and rolled in lettuce leaves, dipped in sauces and eaten with our hands was messily amazing. Are your mouths watering yet??? Then, the mustard leaves rolled with crunchy vegetables inside and a prawn secured on top were next. They disappeared fast.

Thom tucked away his barbeque chicken pieces and I had Vietnamese brown rice with green onions and shrimp. I have never had such wonderful rice—it was dark brown, nutty tasting and so moist,having been cooked in a clay pot. I ate every grain. I could eat a bowl of that every day and be very happy and full.

Our last night in Saigon, we tried to get the energy to go out and try another new place but we had been upgraded to a huge suite at the Park Hyatt so we opted for a quiet room service dinner to enjoy our luxurious digs. The food was adequate but sitting in our living room in our robes while we ate was priceless.

Room Service after a long day spent walking Saigon Streets=PRICELESS!

She Works Hard For Her Money

On September 5, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, China, Food, Shanghai, Travel1 Comment

Even in China, you can find “organic” fruit being touted, though Thom and I know it probably comes from the same field by the highway just like all fruit. That being said, we really can’t see paying 3x the price for the organic label so, after trying it both ways, we went back to buying from our local fruit lady in our neighborhood.

Every day, from morning to late at night, she sits on the corner by our apartment selling fruit out of the back of her van. Assisted by probably family, they weigh the produce and bargain with you on the price, sometimes throwing in an extra banana or two if they overcharge. When Thom buys, this is always what happens because he hates to bargain.

James watches as Thom picks out the fruit from our lady

The fruit tastes delicious and, if it is raised in contaminated soil with the aid of polluted water then so be it. As Fiona, our language teacher has taught us, “In China you can die fast or you can die slow-you pick.”. If the fruit doesn’t kill us, all the carbs we eat will so it’s time to enjoy a juicy peach and throw caution to the wind.

Our fruit lady was anxious to know if James was our son. She pointed to him and then to us with a big smile. Yes-we were blessed with a son, which always goes over big here. Of course, we have a gorgeous daughter as well but here in China, the message is always clear-boys are special and men are in charge.

When we were at Tai Chi, after class we lingered to chat with the fellow participants. The ladies were off talking while Thom and I talked to the guys. They immediately turned to Thom and asked what he did for a living. Smiling his huge grin, Thom loves to tell people, “I follow her and support her” pointing to me. The dudes let that sink in and then their eyes turned to me. “What do YOU do?”. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a man or woman turn to me FIRST when I’m with Thom to ask why we had moved to China. They ALWAYS assume it is for Thom’s career. Just a cultural thing that I’ve gotten used to here.

Our fruit lady pointing out the best stuff to Thom

My fruit lady is also in charge at her job and works so hard to sell her produce but always has a smile on her face. She’s an excellent business woman who understands customer service and that the little things matter like the extra banana thrown in the bag for regular customers or that offering a sample of the grapes will yield larger sales. Kudos to you, my dear! You work hard for your money and deserve every RMB you get from Thom–I’m actually okay that he doesn’t bargain with you. I’m sticking with you for my fruit, even if it kills me.

The Mooncakes are Here! The Mooncakes are here!

On September 4, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, China, Food, Shanghai, Travel1 Comment

Mooncakes are EVERYWHERE. Somehow the main celebration for the MId-Autumn Festival this weekend in China is centered on a not-so-tasty pastry. The hell with the mooncakes!!! Thom and I have decided to celebrate this holiday by going to Vietnam instead of eating pasty carbs but, hey, we’re rebels. What can I say-Ho Chi MInh City, baby, here we come!

Mooncake stamped with rabbit imprint to signify the moon

But back to mooncakes–the front page of the Shanghai Daily featured a huge picture of long lines of people lined up outside waiting to buy popular mooncakes at a bakery. Monday, I got my first mooncake gift from a co-worker. The beautiful tin box featured a rabbit motif. After I consulted Wiki, I know understand that rabbits represent the moon so that makes more sense. I cut open the really heavy small cake (4 to a box and they weigh a ton!) and saw the inner burst of color. I tasted that part first but it was really flavorless–Wiki says it is probably an egg yolk, maybe duck egg, symbolizing the full moon.

Our mooncake tasting with egg yolk in middle surrounded by lotus bean paste

Thom, James and I all participated in mooncake tasting together. Since each cake has 1,000 calories, I’m glad I only had one bite or I’d be at the gym all week working off the damn mooncake flab. It tasted like mild peanut butter but maybe that is what lotus seed paste tastes like. I have nothing to compare it to yet. I do know that despite complaints that mooncake sales are down dramatically due to controls on government bribes, the lines are still pretty long at all bakeries so I’m not sure that strategy is working for them. Even Starbucks sells them–always in gift boxes as they are presents to bestow on people you want to gain weight quickly.

So, happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone. Lots of stories to come this weekend from Vietnam. Scooters galore!

More mooncake info than anyone needs or wants to know, according to Wiki:

Mooncake (simplified Chinese: 月饼; traditional Chinese: 月餅; pinyin: yuè bĭng) is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiujie). The festival is for lunar worship and moon watching, when mooncakes are regarded as an indispensable delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four most important Chinese festivals.

Typical mooncakes are round pastries, measuring about 10 cm in diameter and 3–4 cm thick. This is the Cantonese mooncake, eaten in Southern China in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. A rich thick filling usually made from red bean or lotus seed paste is surrounded by a thin (2–3 mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs. Mooncakes are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea. Today, it is customary for businessmen and families to present them to their clients or relatives as presents,^[1] helping to fuel a demand for high-end mooncake styles. The energy content of a mooncake is approximately 1,000 calories or 4,200 kilojoules (for a cake measuring 10 cm (3.9 in)), but energy content varies with filling and size.^[2]

Most mooncakes consist of a thin, tender pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling, and may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in their center as the symbol of the full moon. Very rarely, mooncakes are also served steamed or fried.

Traditional mooncakes have an imprint on top consisting of the Chinese characters for “longevity” or “harmony”, as well as the name of the bakery and the filling inside. Imprints of the moon, the Lady Chang’e on the moon, flowers, vines, or a rabbit (symbol of the moon) may surround the characters for additional decoration.

Mooncakes are considered a delicacy as production is labor-intensive and few people make them at home. Hence, most prefer to buy them from commercial outlets, which may range from smaller individual bakery shops to high-end restaurants. The price of mooncakes usually ranges from US$10 to US$50 for a box of four, although cheaper and more expensive mooncakes can also be found.^{[original research?]}

Yummy Saturday in Shanghai

On August 24, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, China, Food, Shanghai, Travel3 Comments

Cookies. Delivered. Same Day. But first, let’s talk bagels in Shanghai.

Dense, chewy and delicious, the bagels never disappoint at Egghead Bagels. One of the best blocks for expat food tastes, next door to Egghead is Sumerian Coffee which just opened a taco stand, Dogtown. Yum! I’ve never seen so many laowais walking around one China block seeking out familiar foods.

Enjoying eating sidewalk style before the rain hit, we laughed when Thom’s “buttered” bagel came–the hard chunks of butter in the separate bowl made spreading impossible so he just chucked them on the bagel and smashed the two side together to try and melt them. Considering this is such a Western focused café, it’s funny they make you work to get the “buttered” option to happen. Overall, though, tasty.

Now, on to the cookie portion of the day. After the rain let loose and any plan to walk around on a lazy Saturday faded, we miraculously got a cab and slogged through flooded streets to home sweet home.

Crushed that we came home only with bagels, we promptly (we meaning Thom) went online and ordered off the Strictly Cookies website–same delivery for an extra 15 RMB–of course! We ordered the standard chocolate/chocolate and peanut butter in large quantities (really, who spends $40 US on just cookies–we do!!!) but thankfully Thom decided to try the Snack Pack cookie-a pretzel, caramel, chocolate, Oreo, potato chip creation of the highest deliciousness possible in a cookie. It’s an ugly cookie that doesn’t disappoint. Better Than Sex should be the official cookie name not Snack Pack but that’s just my opinion.

Peanut butter, Choco Choco or Snack Pack??

Even James who doesn’t really like cookies was impressed, not that we plan to share any more with him. Sorry we love you, son, but there is only one special cookie left and your parents are splitting it.

After carb loading, naps are in order and then reading and watching movies to rest up on a rainy lazy Saturday in Shanghai.

Of course, there is that one cookie left…. maybe Thom won’t notice it’s gone when he wakes up from his nap.

Cronuts have descended on Shanghai! Run for your forks!

On August 17, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, China, Food, Shanghai, Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Billed as “The desirable dessert from New York” the Woody Baker (named after the NYC icon Woody Allen perhaps??) in Shanghai has an array of Cronuts to nosh on. I had heard so much about this hot craze in New York where people stand in line for hours just to get these type of pastries so I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see how Shanghai interpreted the famous Cronut.

The two layers of custard are yum but messy!

Two levels of croissant-like pastry with cream custard piped between and on top. Awkward at best to eat by hand, I used a knife and fork to cut bites for the family to taste. I tried cutting it with just a fork and it was too dense so the knife was needed. Unlike the donut or croissant that you could walk and eat on the street, if you try that with a Cronut, you will have custard sliding down your chest in no time as you try to rip it apart with your teeth. NOT. PRETTY. They didn’t give out forks (or chopsticks-now, that would be a challenge!) with it so I am thinking that you are supposed to eat by hand. NO WAY! Since there wasn’t chocolate involved (but you can get those), James thought it was just “okay” and he went back to reading his book. His favorite dessert is brownies so Cronuts are definitely not his thing.

If you want to be "cool" eat a Cronut! — If you want to be “cool” eat a Cronut!

Now, the Chinese culture doesn’t really embrace sweet desserts. Fruit is the favored meal ender here so judging by the lack of crowds at Woody Baker on a busy Saturday, I’m not sure building a bakery on one type of pastry is a sound business model. It was just me and a Brit dude forking over the RMB.

And starting at 18 RMB ($3US) and going up to 26, these desserts are not cheap. The average Chinese citizen would never pay that much. Westerners like us are the target audience for sure. Located in the Xintiendi area (think Manhattan of Shanghai), perhaps they can find enough laowais to stay busy baking.

Thom tasted it and pronounced it “cannoli with a hint of donut” vs. croissant like. The flavors offered are: white chocolate pastiche, white chocolate Oreo, chocolate almond, banana special, fresh blueberry, coco cream and the original. Lots of variety if you want a tasty, very messy, cannoli-like, donut shaped treat. New York or Shanghai–the Cronut Craze has gone worldwide!

Cooking Local in Shanghai

On July 15, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, China, Food, Shanghai, Travel1 Comment

To know a culture it helps to understand the food that nourishes the local people. To that end, we decided to take a cooking class in Shanghai. Cherry was our fearless leader (www.cookinshanghai.com) who took our group including Thom and James with a couple from California and a gal from Ireland, to the local wet market and then to a local apartment to cook our meal. Allowed to have some input into the meal we wanted to create, we chose our favorite dishes: scallion pancakes, dumplings and spring rolls.

After a short walk from the subway entrance where we all met up, we walked to the local wet market. This is not a local grocery but more like an indoor farmer’s market with absolutely no health/safety standards, where you can primarily buy produce and meat/fish from stalls. Very locally priced, it was fascinating to watch Cherry pull up the picture of the produce we were looking at on her handy iPad and learn fun facts like how eating bamboo helps offset the bad effects of eating meat or this veggie can help you lose weight or have better skin complexion. Eating dates can help with dizziness–who knew??? Every food in Chinese culture has a health benefit. Finally emerging from the overwhelming smells of the fish market, I gulped fresh air like it was my last breath.

Waiting for the elevator with a local resident in his pj’s eyeing us like WTF are you doing here, we went up to the fifth floor to the apartment where we would cook our feast. Surprisingly large, Cherry explained that they had created a much bigger kitchen than normal just for their business. Before starting our cooking journey, we, of course, had to take time to get to know each other and drink tea. Cherry taught us the healing properties of the different types of teas–White Tea to heal the stomach, Red Tea to cure “cold bones” and lose weight, etc. While our chef began prepping for us, we chatted and learned that the one couple from California were an aeronautical engineer and a soon-to-be Berkley law student on China vacation. The Irish gal had taken a 9 month leave of absence from her job to travel the world with her boyfriend. They were or had been to in addition to China: India, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, New Zealand and the US. WOW! I am jealous. Ahhh…to be young and have no responsibilities!

James started out as bored and disinterested but as he mixed, rolled, flipped and ate, ate, ate, he started to have as much fun as a 21 year old boy can have with his parents. As the only local residents with a refrigerator, we got all the leftovers so that made him even happier. Unable to taste anything myself due to my weak stomach, it all looked very good and easy to replicate at home. Made of very basic ingredients, we look forward to cooking more at home. Maybe I can even encourage James to use his new skills and cook for his parents…dreams can happen!

You Looking at Me?

On June 18, 2014June 18, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, China, Food, Shanghai, TravelLeave a comment

I am one of those people who enjoys eating cereal for dinner…not eyeballs. Tonight, I had Special K and a banana and loved every bite. Everyone always ask me if I love the food here in China. For a “foodie”, China would be paradise. For a non-foodie like me, it’s challenging. But not only do I really, really not like eating weird stuff, I get sick so easily. So, travelling all the time, I am constantly invited to go to business dinners where I get to watch but not eat the food because I know, without a doubt, that if I do try it, I’ll be projectile vomiting into the nearest potted plant like that unfortunate airport incident that haunts me to this day. So. Not. Pretty.

Thus, one general rule I embrace is that if the entrée is staring me down, I’ll stare right back at it but no way in Hell is that going into my mouth. Mmmmm…..eyeball juice. So at a recent fancy business dinner, I was lucky enough to have not just one course giving me the stink “eye” but several different ones, all attractively presented but all with eyes. DAMN. Amazing how those little eyes pop out when boiled..ughhhh! At a beautiful restaurant with great service, we were offered a “set” menu to choose from with five options. Since all reflected selections were not my cup of tea, I let my dinner mate pick my menu and I gave him my food when he finished his selections. I appreciated the smoke emoting from one of the dishes and the bark/coral/flower decorations. Fancy! Now slap that on a turkey on whole wheat bread with tomato and mayo and I’m in.

The poor wait staff was so concerned with my lack of embracing their cuisine that, while they had informed me earlier that they only served bottles of wine and not just a glass, they took pity on me and brought me a glass of Cabernet to enjoy. Bring that lady some alcohol! Then, maybe, just maybe, she’ll eat our food. Sorry but no amount of wine gets me eating eyeballs but I appreciated the thought. So, between everything either having eyes or being raw, I ended up with an all liquid dinner. My first course was sake followed by a carafe of iced spice punch with a Cabernet chaser. Not bad but damn I was hungry. I even sampled the dessert out of desperation but it was hot red beans with taro ice cream-pretty presentation but it tasted like putty.

Sake..punch...Cab=Dinner — Sake..punch…Cab=Dinner

Finally, after consuming my lovely liquid trio, I got to leave and try to navigate an unfamiliar subway station to find my way home, all alone, late at night. Surprisingly, I actually made it home in one piece with no damage and didn’t get lost at all. First stop at home…enjoying a boring raisin roll and a glass of milk because I was starving. YUM. Good Times in Shanghai!

The NITRO–Coffee with a Serious KICK

On April 7, 2014 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Food, ShanghaiLeave a comment

Always searching for a new coffee experience in Shanghai, I saw a story about Sumerian Specialty Coffee and decided that we just had to go. So, we set off walking and ended up on a familiar street, Shaanxi Bei Lu, where we go for the best bagel in Shanghai-Egghead Bagels.

Well, next door we had seen a coffee shop with dogs sleeping on the floor and never stopped in. Turns out, this was the café we had set out to find and didn’t know we had walked by it many times. Filled with expats, both inside and outside, the drink we had come to try out was the “Nitro” special–a special coffee blend brewed under pressure of nitrogen and CO2. Yep. That’s what I said. I don’t think even in coffee-crazy Seattle that they have tried this one before but the U.S. does have all those crazy FDA rules and here anything goes.

Just like pulling a Guinness, it comes out cold,dark and smooth with a slight fizz on the tongue. Unexpected and totally a new tasting sensation for me. Combine that with hot cookies out of the oven from Strictly Cookies that they have partnered with and my favorite cookie in the whole wide world and I think founder David Seminsky has found a winning combo to keep us coffee junkies happy and coming back. Fellow café patrons were enjoying the caffeine offerings plus wraps and bagel sandwiches–lots here to keep all the xpats well fed while they socialized. The table next to us spilled over with Brits while there were some locals also enjoying the bright and airy place. I loved the plants hanging on the wall in glass containers held onto the rustic boards with steel clamps-totally going to copy that idea for our apartment. If anything, David needs to expand because there were no seats available and this wasn’t even a peak time. If you’re ever in Shanghai, check it out and see if you have the courage to try the Nitro!

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Most mooncakes consist of a thin, tender pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling, and may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in their center as the symbol of the full moon. Very rarely, mooncakes are also served steamed or fried.

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