Ci Fan Tuan!

Fat Yu always write about Shanghai food, but never write about breakfast!  Why not breakfast?!  Is most important meal of the whole day!

Fat Yu walk to work and have many places to eat breakfast!  Jianbing, scallion pancake, mantou, western bakery - have many option!  But when Fat Yu very hungry, he must have cifantuan!  Is most filling option!  And is cheap too!  Just 4 RMB!

Fat Yu favorite fantuandian is on corner of Xikang Lu and Nanyang Lu!  Always long line!  That when you know is good!  And lady is very nice!

Fat Yu always get same thing!  Crispy you tiao, salty bean sauce, meat floss and tea-cooked egg!  If not broken, why you bother fix it?!

She packs it all in rice with red bean and put in bag!  Look like this!

After I take bite, look like this!  Very delicious!

And very filling!  Eat just one, not hungry until lunch!

But, of course, lunchtime and I am hungry again!

I Am Fat Yu!

Beijing Style Hot Pot!

Aiya!  Gets very cold in Shanghai!  Everything always wet!  Very chilly!

Nothing better to warm up than hot pot!  And Fat Yu must admit, best hot pot come from Beijing!  Fat Yu very like this place!  And is very close to Fat Yu's home!

Beautiful ceramic hot pot!  And inside has delicious lamb soup!  We buy slices of lamb and cook in soup!

But best part of restaurant is sesame sauce!  Have fresh green onion, coriander!  Salted garlic, chili oil!  Mix all together, very delicious!

Not only have lamb!  Have mushrooms, fish cake, green vegetable!  Taste is very good!

Hot pot make the whole room warm!  And cooking food in hot soup make food very hot!  Good for winter!  Beijing people still not better than Shanghai people!

I Am Fat Yu!

Taiwan Black Pepper Shrimp!

Fat Yu love Taiwan food!  Not just the food in Taiwan, but Taiwan-style food too!  Many great seafoods, just like in Shanghai!  But taste is very different!

Fat Yu's Taiwan friend take him to a small Taiwan restaurant that only Taiwan people go to!  Fat Yu had never heard of before!

This restaurant have special dish!  Taiwan Black Pepper Shrimp!  They have many tanks full of different shrimp!  We order medium size!

They use special cooking technique!  They call dry roasting!  They use big metal pot!  Get very hot!

Come to the table, smell very good!

Shrimp is very fresh and is cooked perfect!  Firm and springy!  And black pepper taste is very delicious!

But Fat Yu must be honesty!  He like shrimp when is peeled already!  Spitting out shell take too long!  Peeled shrimp can eat much faster!

Why need to eat faster?

I Am Fat Yu!

Dunhuang Food!

People don't know - China very big!  Has many climate!  And big part of China is desert in the west!  Like Dunhuang in Gansu Province!

But western China very dangerous!  They see Shanghai people and want to rob us, because we have much style and money!  Aiya!  Fat Yu must spend his money on food before get robbed!

We have cold bean-flour noodles!  This dish famous in Xian - but Xian style bean noodles most vinegar and coriander!  Dunhuang style has very much chili oil!  Very delicious!

Of course, cannot come to western China and not have lamb!  So we order cumin lamb with Uyghur-style breads!  Eh, this one not so good; lamb is dry and bread is not so fresh!

But doesn't matter!  Any food tastes good when you have drinking Dunhuang strong wine!  Taste is very terrible!  But is very strong, and make Fat Yu very hungry!

Eh, Fat Yu must admit, food in Dunhuang not so great!  Is like worse version of Xian food!  Life very hard in deserts of western China - Fat Yu is glad he live in Shanghai where food is delicious!

I Am Fat Yu!

Mid-Autumn Festival!

Mid-Autumn festival coming soon!  Fat Yu very excited!  Not only because many days not work, but because of moon cake!

Already, many of Fat Yu business friend send moon cake!  Is very nice gift!

Moon cakes are very beautiful, and filled with lotus seed paste and egg yolk!  Is very delicious, but is also very heavy!  Can only eat small slice!

Egg yolk look like moon inside!

Chinese people know - must eat with lots of tea!  Mooncakes so oily, so heavy, must drink lots of tea to cut the cakes!

Most people eat 1/8 of cake, but Fat Yu eat twice that much!  Why?!


I Am Fat Yu!

Big big mango!

Wah, summer time mean lot of delicious fruit!  They send beautiful mango from Taiwan to Shanghai!

But look how big!  Fat Yu never see mango so big!

Sometimes when fruit very big, not taste good!  But this big big mango taste very sweet and delicious!  

But is big big mango too big for one person?!

Ridiculous...

I Am Fat Yu!

Zhejiang Cuisine - Hangzhou Style Lunch!

Many people know that Shanghai style food is part of Zhejiang cuisine!  Zhejiang cuisine one of 8 traditions of Chinese food! And is best one!  But Zhejiang cuisine have many style - Shanghai food just one!  Most famous of Zhejiang cuisine is Hangzhou style!

So Fat Yu and wife go to Hangzhou and eat lunch at very beautiful restaurant!  Is right on the famous West Lake!  And when Fat Yu say is on West Lake, he mean on West Lake: is many small buildings on stilt walkway!  Many lily pads and beautiful lily flowers!  Is perfect spot for the lunch!

We order classic Hangzhou style foods!  We start of course with the cold dish!  Sweet lotus root stuffed with sticky rice!  Also very popular in Shanghai!  But here they serve with lychee and...eh?!  Look like Pocky?!

Of course, cannot go to Hangzhou and not have bamboo!  Hangzhou famous for longjing tea and bamboo!  So we drink longjing tea and eat bamboo!

And must have fatty pork!  Hangzhou is best place for red cooked fatty pork - they name dish after famous Chinese poet Su Dong Po!  Usually look square, like bundle of book!  But this restaurant they make it like tower in Egypt!  Is very beautiful!

Even make look vegetables look like little fish!  Swimming around tower!

Speak of fish, must have West Lake vinegar fish!  Cannot eat on West Lake and not have West Lake fish!  Fish taste very fresh!  Is very delicious!  Has sour, has sweet!

So much food!  But we take long walk around West Lake, so have big appetite!  We take boat trip too! But we don't row the boat ourselves, we have someone row for us!

Why row for us? 

I Am Fat Yu!

Dongbei Dinner!

Of course, Fat Yu in Shanghai person, so my favorite food is from Shanghai!  But must admit, I also very like food from Dongbei!  Sometimes Shanghai food too sweet!  Dongbei food salty, and very heart!  Fill up big appetite like Fat Yu!

Fat Yu and wife have favorite Dongbei restaurant very close to house!  Restaurant is clean, food is good and on top of that, is cheap!  We eat here many times!  Have many favorite dishes!  Here are some!

Cold black mushrooms!

Glass noodles with sesame sauce!

Cabbage stir-fried with chili and black vinegar!

Tofu balls!  (Best part of the tofu!)

And last we have house specialty!  Braised pork knuckle!  They serve with plastic glove so Fat Yu can pick up pork knuckle and eat without getting hands dirty!  Also serve with straw, so Fat Yu can get the nice fat inside the bone!

Restaurant have many other good dishes!  Fat Yu will have to post another time!




I Am Fat Yu!

Macau: Egg Tart!

Egg tart very popular all over China!  Can get egg tart everywhere in China!  Cantonese dim sum, Hong Kong bakery, Taiwan even have special egg tart shop!  But many people not know - best egg tart in the world is in Macau!  Is because egg tart is originally Portuguese food!

Macau have many famous bakery!  But Margaret's Cafe e Nata is very close to Fat Yu hotel!  And is suppose to have very good egg tart!  So Fat Yu go to try!

But Fat Yu kind of confuse!  I sit down at table but all waitress ignore me!  Then someone tell him he need to order inside!  So he go inside, but no egg tart!  Where to find?!  Of course egg tart very popular, so they cook all the time!  Fat Yu order and they bring fresh egg tart!

Wah - is best egg tart Fat Yu ever has!  And Fat Yu eat many egg tarts!  The pastry is flaky and delicate, but also chewy and just a little bit salty!  Inside is like sweet custard - not too loose, but soft and velvet!  Is very good!  Live to hype!



I Am Fat Yu!

Macau: Portuguese food!

Fat Yu have business trip in Hong Kong, so he take a short trip to Macau!  Like many Chinese people, Fat Yu like to gamble!  Macau good for gamble!  Fat Yu stay at famous Macau hotel, but go to many nearby casino!

I play western game, and have the good luck!  Fat Yu win lots of money!  So I decide to treat myself to expensive Portuguese dinner!  (Portuguese used to own Macau, but now part of China again!)  Still have good Portuguese food!

I order Portuguese classic dish!  Like fried dried fish balls, they call bacalao!

They soak dried fish and mix with potato!  Then deep fry!  Is nice and fluff on inside!

Then I have Black People African Chicken!  (Portuguese used to own Africa too!  So they bring Africa dishes to Macau!)  Is chicken with sauce made from garlic and peanut!  Very delicious!

Of course, Fat Yu want sweet thing at end of meal!  But not fruit, Portuguese people have special sweet egg dessert!

And I still have very much money left over to buy present for wife!


I Am Fat Yu!

Eh?!

Fat Yu not Italy person, but he know bad pizza when he see it!

But I eat some pizza anyway!

Why?!  Because...


I Am Fat Yu!

Yangshuo Food!

Fat Yu and wife travel to Yangshuo to see beautiful mountains!  But is not all!  Fat Yu's wife's mother also come!  AIYA!  Must impress mother-on-law!

But Fat Yu know nothing about mountains!  Only know about food!  So Fat Yu buy lunch on Li River for wife and family!

First we have river snails stuffed with pork!  At beginning cannot eat because chopstick no reach!  Even toothpick no help!  Then nice Yangshuo lady teach us how to eat - just suck meat out of shell!  Is very easy!

Also have crispy Li River shrimp!  Is very small shrimp, not like the river shrimp from Shanghai!  Eat whole!  Is very light and salty!  Fat Yu mother-on-law like very much!  Score point for Fat Yu!

But is only one meal!  We are in Yangshuo for many days!  One good meal not enough!  So the next day we travel into the mountains and go to old town!  On way we stop at old farm house for lunch!  Is real old house with farm-style kitchen!

We order many dishes!  Shredded potatoes!  Summer corn soup!  Fried eggplant!  And braised tofu!

All dishes very simple, but very good taste!  And also very good price - many dishes and local beer, less than 70 RMB!  Mother-on-law impressed with Fat Yu food experting!  Also impressed how save money to pay for other things like house for Fat Yu wife!  Shanghai woman very tough!  But no matter - score many point for Fat Yu!

Oh yes, and mountains also very beautiful!

I Am Fat Yu!

Cambodia food!

Wah, Fat Yu do many travels!  So lucky!  But no time to write blog!  (Plenty of time to eat, just no time to write!)

Fat Yu and wife take holiday to Cambodia!  Is very far from Shanghai!  But also very nice - many beautiful temples and friendly people!

And, of course, good food!  Cambodia food is a little sweet!  But not like Shanghai food - is not so salty and oily!  Very fresh tastes, many fresh chili and herbs!  They call it Khmer food!

But first thing first!  Is very hot in Khmer, I mean, Cambodia, so need cool beer!  Angkor Beer very good beer!  They serve very cold and is refreshing!  And has much more flavor than Tsingtao beer!

We then have very delicious chicken soup!  Soup some sour and some sweet!  Very interesting flavor!  Cambodian/Khmer chicken soup very different than Chinese chicken soup!

Then real sweet and sour fried fish!  Fish come from nearby lake - is very fresh!  Fish pieces light and flaky under crunchy crust!  Is like Cantonese food, but sweeter!

And my favorite dish of all, fish amok!  Amok is like stew with coconut milk and traditional Cambodian, eh, Khmer (AIYA, what is difference?!) spices and herbs!  Lemongrass, Kaffir lime, galangal, ginger and turmeric!  Served in fresh coconut, with many bird chili!  Bird chili very spicy!  Maybe even more spicy than Sichuan chili!

Fish amok on rice?!  The coconut and curry gravy mixed with the white rice - Fat Yu no need eat anything else for rest of life!

One dish for rest of life?!  Who am I kid...



I Am Fat Yu!