Zhejiang Food!

Eh, Fat Yu back in Shanghai!  No place as home!

Fat Yu can finally eat good local food again!  This time we have special treat for dinner with special guests - Zhejiang cuisine!  Zhejiang food are one of the 8 food treasures of China!  Fat Yu tell you it is best of the 8!

Zhejiang food come from Zhejiang province - is famous for fresh and light taste!  Is very natural flavor!  Not oily and sweet like Shanghai food!

Restaurant very beautiful!  We order many dishes!  We start with chicken soup with shreds of tofu!  Zhejiang chefs famous in China for using knife - cut tofu very fine!  Look like feather!

Then we have famous Zhejiang dish, pork meatball in special soup!  Is like Lion's Head but much lighter!  Meatball is good - but soup was better!  Should call it special soup with meatball in it!

Ah, now we are talk!  River shrimp with mushrooms and fried rice cake!  Shrimp very fresh!  Even though fried, rice cake not greasy!  Fat Yu amazed!

Then we have tofu with shrimp!  Very beautiful!  Even plate is very beautiful!

Fat Yu know that cannot have Zhejiang food without have fish!  So we have red cooked fish!

We finish meal with little eats!  Pork baozi!  Very delicious!

Last dish we have is radish pastry!  Again very beautiful - can see skill of chef!  And pastry very flaky!

Is very much food!  But Fat Yu must order many dishes for special guests!  Fat Yu must have face!


I Am Fat Yu!

Hawker Stalls Second Part - Amoy Street!

When Fat Yu and wife wake up, we think of one thing: breakfast!  But hotel breakfast too expensive!  So we go to Amoy Street hawker stall!

Fat Yu early riser!  Not all stall open, la!  Only coffee, noodle and congee!  But is OK!  Fat Yu and wife like coffee, noodle and congee!

First we order fried noodle!  Noodle is fried with egg, shrimp, fish cake and vegetables!

Ay, what kind noodle you want?!  Wife choose thin noodle!  Of course Fat Yu order fat noodle!

But not enough for Fat Yu!  Must have congee too!  So Fat Yu order century egg congee!

Congee is very thick!  Come with egg, pork, and fish!  Fried garlic on top!  Garlic stay crispy and very delicious!

Is very big breakfast!  But not too much for me, because...


I Am Fat Yu!

Hawker Stalls First Part - Newton Circus!

Fat Yu like Singapore crab, but very expensive, lah!  (Uh-oh, Fat Yu in Singapore too long!  Start to talk like Singapore person!)  Many things in Singapore expensive, like this fruit juice with strong wine!  Cost 120 RMB!  Aiya!!  Fat Yu buy big bottle of Shanghai huangjiu for 20 RMB!

Doesn't matter!  Not everything in Singapore expensive!  That's why Fat Yu and wife go to hawker stall!  Singapore hawker stall sell many different dishes!  Each stall make different dishes!  Is like Zaoyang Lu, but much cleaner!

First hawker stall we go to is Newton Circus!  (Eh, Fat Yu thought circus is where laowai walk on rope, paint their face and scare children?!)  We order many dishes!

First we order oyster with egg!  Is very delicious!  Many oysters!

Then we order Singapore special dish, prawn with cereal!  They even serve them Chinese style, with shell still on!  Fat Yu can spit shells onto plate!  Feel like home!

Fat Yu wife say we must eat vegetables!  So we order Chinese vegetable with fried garlic on top!  Very good taste!

We even order fried white carrot cake!  But Fat Yu too busy eating to take picture!

How can I be too busy to take picture?!


I Am Fat Yu!

Yunnan Beer!

When Fat Yu travels, he always drink local beers!  Yunnan has famous local beer too!

They even have local Yunnan rice wine!  Very strong!  Just like Fat Yu!

I Am Fat Yu!

Singapore Crab!

Time for vacation!  Fat Yu and wife go to Singapore for holiday!  Singapore is perfect for holiday - is one big shopping mall!  Too bad so many Singapore people!  Fat Yu make joke!

But good thing so many Singapore Crab, and Fat Yu not talking about Singaporean attitude!  (Fat Yu again make joke!)  Can have crab served many ways - Chili Crab, Butter Crab, Steamed Crab!  But Fat Yu's favorite is White Pepper Crab!  And this restaurant is famous for White Pepper Crab!

These crab very big!  Much bigger than Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crab!  Fat Yu told that they are called Mud Crab and that they no hesitate to fight and even eat each other!  Eh, no wonder they Singaporean!

But serious, folks, they have much meat!  Very easy to eat!  Much easier than hairy crab!

Meat is very sweet!  Tastes very good with white pepper!

Of course not as good as Yangcheng lake hairy crab!  Is best crab in the world!  Eh, but Fat Yu must admit, Singapore crab pretty good!  I eat it all, because...


I Am Fat Yu!

Italy Mushroom Noodle!

When Fat Yu in Yunnan province, he eat many special Yunnan foods!  Yunnan is many famous for mushroom!  So Fat Yu buy many dried Yunnan mushroom to take back to Shanghai!

But how to cook them?!  Fat Yu no know!  But Fat Yu lucky man!  He have Italy friend!  His Italy friend say that dried Yunnan mushrooms are very like Italy mushrooms!  She even give Fat Yu a recipe for Italy mushroom noodle!

ITALY MUSHROOM NOODLE

Submit the dried Yunnan mushrooms in hot water, take out mushrooms but save the water!  The water has much flavor!  

Slice fresh mushrooms!  Fresh mushrooms not from Yunnan but still delicious!

Then stir fry onions and garlic, and later add the fresh and wet mushroom, and later add the water from the dried mushrooms!  But must be careful!  Mushroom water has earth from the mushroom!  So must get earth out of mushroom water first!

Fat Yu almost forget!  Must boil noodle!  Italy people use dried noodle!  Take long time to boil!

Italy people very careful about which noodle!  Italy friend says Fat Yu must buy fat noodle called tagliatelle!  Look like 河粉!  

Only fat noodle!  No other noodle!  Very specific!

Now sauce again!  Must add cream to noodle sauce!

Then mix sauce with noodle and put cheese on top!

Very delicious!  Thank you Italy friend!

I Am Fat Yu!

Hairy Cow!

When in Lijiang, Fat Yu must try Yunnan specialty!  Yunnan famous for mushrooms, tea and hairy cow! Lao wai tell Fat Yu that their name for hairy cow is "yak."  Fat Yu thought "yak" is what lao wai do after they eat hairy cow!  Ha!

Fat Yu climb to top of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain!  When he get to top, he very hungry!  Yunnan friend suggest they get yak hot pot!

When they bring hot pot to table, yak already in the pot!

Soup has many different yak parts!  Yak meat, yak liver, yak stomach!

Some people did not eat the funny yak parts!

Eh?!  Of course I did!



I Am Fat Yu!

Sichuan Dinner!

Fat Yu has many Sichuan friends!  They know that Sichuan food in Shanghai no good!  Not enough spicy!

But every rule have inceptions!  And this restaurant is a big inceptions!

We order many dishes!  First is double-pepper rabbit!  Sichuan famous for rabbit!

Very spicy!  (Speak of spicy, all the fuwuyuan were from Shanghai, not spicy Sichuan girls!  Fat Yu very sad!)

But steamed pork ribs covered in sticky rice cheer up Fat Yu!  Make very good taste!

One of Yu Xin's best dish is camphor smoked duck!  Eh, what is camphor?!  Fat Yu no know!  Al he know is the taste is very delicious!

Look like Beijing duck!  But taste is much different!  And much cheaper!

We also have soup served in winter melon!  They carve beautiful mountain scene on outside of melon!

Ugly Shanghai waitress say that Fat Yu can eat the melon if I want!


If I want?!



I Am Fat Yu!

Hairy Crab!

It get cold in Shanghai!  When it get cold in Shanghai, everyone know what it means!

Hairy Crab!

True hairy crab come from yangcheng lake in Jiangsu province! But Fat Yu must be careful!  Many crooks fake hairy crab!  Come from other place but say come from Yangcheng lake!  Aiya!

Fat Yu no trust restaurant, so buy my own!  Fat Yu's friend Annie know where to get real Yangcheng lake hairy crab!

If you look close, you can see hairy mittens!  Many hairs on their claws!  Look like mud, la!

Even though Fat Yu no trust restaurant to buy hairy crab, Fat Yu no know how to cook them!  So he ask restaurant to cook them!

Many many crabs!  Very beautiful!  Enough crabs for each person to have two!

But how to choose which one?!  Fat Yu knows bigger not always better!  And, have to pick between male and female crabs!  Eh?!  How to tell?

Male crab have "V" segment on bottom of body, like this!  (Female more round!)

Many people say that female crabs are sweeter, but Fat Yu knows that only true at end of crab season!  In beginning of crab season, males much sweeter!  But is middle of crab season, so Fat Yu has one male and one female!

Just as important as real Yangcheng lake hairy crab is real Shaoxing wine!  Fat Yu's friend bring own bottle of 30 year old Shaoxing wine!  Is very good!

Eating crab can be difficult!  But not for Fat Yu!  Because I am real Shanghai person!

I Am Fat Yu!

Vegetable meal!

Fat Yu's wife says Fat Yu is too fat!  Eh?!  I am Fat Yu!

Doesn't matter!  She is Shanghai wife!  I do what she say!  So I order vegetable lunch from lady!  She cook it special for Fat Yu and deliver to work!

Many many mushrooms, with potatoes and green vegetables!  Even piece of fish!  But is not fish, is vegetable, just look like fish!  Even other vegetables that look like intestine from animal!  But sad for Fat Yu - not animal intestine, just vegetable!

Everything vegetable!  But very dericious!

I Am Fat Yu!

Lao Wai Booze!

Fat Yu important friend bring strong wine from Scotland!  Is very good wine!

He says is very old!  But only 40 and 42 years old!  Fat Yu older than that!

I Am Fat Yu!

Guangzhou Dim Sum!

Eh, they make Fat Yu go to Guangzhou for work!  Guangzhou so dirty!  But they have good dim sum!

Fat Yu stay at fancy lao wai hotel!  Across the street there is dim sum restaurant!  So Fat Yu go for breakfast!

He order four dishes!

First dish come is radish cake!  But is cold and oily!  They must have cooked it long time before!  Aiya!

Second dish that come is shrimp dumpling!  Fat Yu love shrimp dumpling!  But this shrimp dumpling skin is tough and chewy and stick to the bottom of steamer and fall apart!  Eh?!  How can skin be tough but also fall apart?!  Fat Yu don't know!

Ah, finally a dish that is good!  Beef balls!  Tender with good taste and very delicious!  But why they serve with western broccoli?!  Never mind!  Still taste good!

Last dish is steamed rice with chicken inside!  We call it pearl chicken!  But also big pieces of ginger and onions!  Aiyo, big onion and ginger in my pearl chicken?!  Fat Yu no like!

Eh, only one dish out of four is good to eat!  But still I eat it all, because...

I Am Fat Yu!