... a journey ...: food

Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

March 16, 2014

colin's soldiers

a bit'o snot,

a bit'o tears,

it's soldier time.

February 19, 2014

watermelon

if i were to choose to be a fruit

i would be a watermelon

January 19, 2014

granola

nothing beats a healthy breakfast

January 8, 2014

上海的小吃 shanghai nibblies

for those who are curious of what chinese REALLY eat,

here's a sneak peak into my winter holiday menu:

January 5, 2014

南翔小笼 pork buns from Nan Xiang

these are one of the the most well-known delicacies in shanghai, and nan-xiang is the place to have it -

a "little basket bun", steamed in a bamboo basket.

they have pork filling, and are traditionally eaten in one mouthful.

they must be eaten with extreme skill, care and patience -

at the right temperature, with exceptional chopstick skills, and the correct judgement of temperature.

because if not careful, one can either cause severe burns to their mouth (from the hot pork juice), or poke through the fragile "skin" and loose the juice forever - an even more tragic loss.

due to the high "casualty" rates, they come in plenty - 30 in a tray, that will allow you to have at least (hopefully) a few successful attempts.

the bun is dipped in the cool white vinegar, and devoured in one mouthful.

the soft, chewy, glutenous bun burst and the pork juice will explode in your mouth,

and the different textures start to mingle.

eyes closed, jaw moving, nothing in the world can take the joy away from a person in the middle of eating a "little basket bun".

these buns are for "take-a-way" and are dried up-side-down, so the skins can harden and retain the precious juice inside.

these are "raw" buns ready to be steamed

and the buns are steamed in large steamers like fat pagodas.

a tray of buns ready to be served to the anticipating diners.

a bun being carefully devoured.

unfortunately the waitresses are not allowed to go anywhere near the buns - otherwise the whole of china (or the world) would be "little basket bun" waitresses.