What, no Lumpia Shanghai in Shanghai?

MANILA, Philippines - I was disappointed when our host for dinner declared there is no such thing as Lumpiang Shanghai in Shanghai and neither was there Shanghai Fried Rice. I’ve looked forward to sampling these two dishes in the city they were named after but alas they are Pinoy inventions.

Pinay expat Lulu Uy, VP for marketing of Shangri-La hotels China, woke me up to this reality when she graciously hosted our dinner at the Pudong Shangri-La located at the famous Bund area of Shanghai. Thanks to EDSA Shangri-La director for sales and marketing Mike Albana who coordinated the feast.

Having resided in China for the past 17 years, Lulu is a living encyclopedia of Shanghainese cuisine, which we found out was very much different from the food we typically find at Chinese restaurants in the Philippines. Typical Chinese food served in local restaurants is Cantonese. Beaming with pride, Lulu educated us that the Shanghainese cuisine they serve at all their three Shangri-La properties in Shanghai (Pudong, Jing An and Kerry) only use natural ingredients and condiments sans MSG, Oyster sauce or any artificial flavor enhancers. Our three-hour dinner spiced in between with Pinoy showbiz gossip and “Porklitics” started with four appetizers, including pickled tofu with peanuts and sliced cucumber skin in hot and sour sauce. First entree was Curry Prawn with a side of deep-fried mini-buns. I am not a curry person and almost passed but upon Lulu’s insistence that I try it made me a curry convert. It was utterly delicious and had several layers of flavor melded together by the sauce. Everyone in the table (Joey and Eileen de Leon, Johnny and Jane Tsai, Mike and Nol Albana, and yours truly and better half Mady) had second servings.

Sauteed Chicken with Spices and Red Chilis was next. The first bite was yummy then a capsicum explosion in my mouth. I had to down two glasses of diet coke to relieve the burning sensation. Thankfully, the next two dishes weren’t spicy — Braised Beancurd swimming in a cloudy soup with sliced ham and veggies followed by another tofu dish Stewed Shredded Beancurd Skin Yangzhou-style. The latter tofu dish was tastier and I had second servings. The deep-fried Premier Beef Ribs almost stuffed our bellies leaving very little space for the steamed Hard Shell Crabs and Crown Daisy Vegetable Fried Rice. Prior to dessert, the chef sent a generous serving of Xiao Long Bao, which we were surprised to discover was invented in Shanghai and not in Xiamen. We had to request for more as the whole group agreed it was the best version we’ve all tasted. Before saying our farewells, our host Lulu gifted each and everyone two boxes each of Shangri-La Pudong’s moon cakes.

Next day, we explored the Nanjing area which was where our hotel was (Royal Meridien Hotel Shanghai), teeming with thousands and thousands of pedestrians ignoring red stoplights and crossing the streets with careless abandon. There was a group that was ballroom dancing under the hot sun, there were crowds watching singers and musicians perform and endless queues waiting for their turn to purchase moon cakes.

We happened to be in China at the height of the Moon Festival celebration. The shops and malls that lined the streets didn’t carry any clothes we could purchase because they were mostly winter clothing. The food halls were a different story. Endless stalls carried fresh and preserved fruits, preserved meats and ham hocks, hundreds of tea varieties, cooked duck, etc. Our digestive juices started reacting and created hunger pangs even if we just had breakfast three hours earlier but it was mission impossible because there were block-long queues to get in the restaurants. Even McDonalds and KFC take-out counters were swamped with eager customers. We decided to postpone the food foray and opted for 90-minute foot massages. It was invigorating. We ate lunch by 3 p.m. at Yoshinoya.

Dinner that evening was courtesy of my comadre Eileen Macapagal de Leon who was celebrating her birthday. The feast consisted of fatty Shanghai crabs (also known as hairy crabs) that were just going into season. The restaurant was called Crab Restaurant in English and served dishes that had crab meat, crab fat or crab cooked several ways. We tried several of the crab dishes but the piece de resistance which we saved lots of stomach space for were the Shanghai crabs that came into season just a couple of days ago.

The table fell silent as each one of us picked through the crab legs and shells filled with lots of yummy fat. An hour later, we all went to bed satisfied and sated. On our way back to Manila the next day, we were surprised to find live Shanghai crabs being sold at the departure area of the Shanghai Pudong airport. We all bought half a dozen each, packed in special boxes for transport. I cooked mine as soon as I got home.