My friends Kyle and Colin have their birthdays a few days apart in early January. We started the celebration at the mind-blowingly expensive Morton’s of Chicago steakhouse over in IFC in Pudong.
The first thing I will mention is that the service at Morton’s is excellent.
My friend Pete once commented that what passes for good Western food in Shanghai usually equates to “doesn’t suck.” While it’s not 100% true, it often feels true. So in-between my nostalgic runs for the Hong Kong I used to live in as well as for disappearing Cantonese food, unavailable in Shanghai, I found time to stop by the 3 Michelin Star rated L’atelier de Joel Rubuchon.
This was actually my second time here, as I had been before a couple of years ago – I really like the L’Atelier concept, as its fairly casual and an ideal place to have a meal by oneself should you be travelling that way.
Having just got off the plane from Shanghai and knowing that I was going to have handmade noodles the next day, I felt like I needed a control group. Oh and a new noodle place would be really awesome.
So within a few minutes walk of my friend Abbie’s apartment was “mentioned in the Michelin guide Wing Wah Noodle House”
Part of the reason I was so ready to get to Hong Kong was that I was watching old episodes of No Reservations – especially repeating the one for Hong Kong when I realized that I hadn’t been out to Tai Po Market . . . well in at least 12 years. Why not make a day of walking in Bourdain’s footsteps? Plus, roasted meats!
First – here’s a list of (most) of the places Tony went when he was in Hong Kong – I decided I’d go out to Tai Po Market for Ping Kee and Yat Lok (although I saw the next day there was a Yat Lok in Central). Then I made plans to meet my former co-workers Monica and Jenny at Tung Po at the Java Road Cooked Food Center.
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Needing to get out of cold Shanghai – especially with a lot of people out of town, I took my friend Abbie’s advice and her apartment too and just went down to Hong Kong to chill out for a few days.
I realize that this blog really has consistently been a love letter to Hong Kong . . . well, deal with it. Because I do love that place. So why not move back there? Costs . . .and job opportunities. However, since I’m only a two hour flight away, I will continue to go back as often as I can.
A return to Australian Dairy Company
My friend Joanne flew up from Hong Kong. It’s hairy crab season here in Shanghai.
Reservations were made at Xinguang Jiu Jia.
It was pretty awesome. Every part of the crab. De-shelled. Served with asparagus, crab meat, various reproductive organs.
Two day business trip to Wuhan and Beijing. Got a little time with Chairman Mao and the snow.
In what is now a Shanghai tradition, another turkey was ordered. Friends were invited. Lots of food was eaten.
So obviously I’m not Italian. Nor do I have an Italian grandmother. But sometimes a little homemade pasta goes a long way to making one feel good.
Tomato sauce recipe:
Take a good 8-10 good sized tomatoes. Blanch quickly in boiling salted water to make the skins easy to peel off. Squeeze the tomatoes to get rid of a good amount of juice and seeds, then place into hot pot already seasoned with olive oil. Break up the tomatoes with a potato masher.
In another pot, 1 cup of olive oil, some crushed red pepper, and about 10 cloves of garlic, and a lot of fresh basil – heat up over very low heat. You’re making infused olive oil here.
After about 30 minutes of the tomatoes reducing, strain the olive oil infusion into the sauce, keep stirring and keep on simmer. If the tomato sauce becomes dry, strain some of the juice from the earlier squeezing into the pot.
Cook off about 3 ounces of pasta per person in heavily salted water. In a heavy bottomed saute pan, first grill sausages, then after slicing the sausage, add the tomato mixture in, then the dripping wet pasta. Include a couple of tablespoons of the starchy pasta water. Mix. Combine. Serve with fresh basil and fresh Parmesan.
