Homemade Chinese Zongzi

Ingredients

• About 22 large bamboo leaves, soaked in hot water for four hours until pliable
• Uncolored string (cut into 8 inch pieces)
• 2 pounds of glutinous rice (aka sticky rice)
• 3.5 pounds of fatty pork (pork butt or pork belly work well)
• 1 cup of light soy sauce
• 1 large handful of scallions
• 2 tablespoons of sugar, to taste
• Shaoxing rice wine, to taste

Method

• For the filling, dice your fatty pork into roughly 1 inch cubes and marinate for two hours in a half cup of soy sauce plus scallions. Meanwhile, rinse your uncooked glutinous rice, add soy sauce to taste.
• Cut the strings for tying the zongzi.
• In a wok, add oil and brown your pork, adding more soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine and sugar to taste.
• Put the cooked meat in a bowl and let cool. Reserve the liquid and mix in with the rice.
• Make sure there are no holes in any of your bamboo leaves. Grab one bamboo leaf, and cut off its stem. Make a cone using the bottom of the leaf. Make sure the tip of the cone is sealed. Add a few spoonfuls of rice. When you get to the center of your zongzi, add two or three chunks of meat. Use a single chopstick to get the rice into the corners of the zongzi. Using a spoon, spoon more rice over the pork into the cone until it is almost full. Leave a 5cm gap unfilled so the rice will have room to expand.
• Fold the remaining part of the leaf over the top of the cone and wrap the rest tightly around the zongzi. Then tie a piece of string all around the zongzi. 
• Boil for about 40 minutes and enjoy.

Chinese Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival of 2014 falls on June 2. Most Chinese festivals include the eating of a particular food among their customs and the Dragon Boat Festival is no exception. Traditionally eaten on the day would go to zongzi, they are pyramidal, bamboo-wrapped packets of steamed glutinous rice with sweet or savory filling.

Shanghai traditional style Zongzi

Each region of China has its own special form of zongzi.In Shanghai, zongzi filling with pork soaked in soy sauce in the middle of the glutinous rice. The best Shanghai zongzi are actually from a nearby town called Jiangxing and many locals still make the 45-minute trek by car to pick up them up for the holiday. As for where you can get the best zongzi in town, Wu Fang Zhai is famous for their Jiaxing-style zongzi. 
Wu Fang Zhai : 28 Yunnan Nan Lu, near Yan’an Zhong Lu, Shanghai
+86 21 6311 5001, ＋86 21 6328 6871

The most creative Shanghai zongzi

1. Rice-skinned mango zongzi

  






Coming in four contemporary flavors -- mango, mocha, coffee, and green tea with red bean -- Starbucks’ Ice Star Rice Dumpling is smaller than traditional rice triangles, and looks far more appetizing.

101 Yuyuan Lu, near Fuyou Lu 
+86 21 6373 0110

2. Lotus paste Zongzi

Wrapped in fresh and fragrant leaves, the lotus paste filling is sweet, but not greasy, making it a perfect Dragon Boat dessert.

18 Daxing Lu, near Lujiabang Lu 

 +86 21 6345 9888

3. Corn and sticky rice zongzi 

Gold corn kernels are mixed with the colorful wuchang rice, a specialty rice from northeastern China, giving this dumpling a eye-popping color clash. In addition to the light taste, this zongzi is made with healthy, whole coarse grains, making it popular among waistline-conscious snackers.

18 Daxing Lu, near Lujiabang Lu 

 +86 21 6345 9888

The Best Way to Eat Hairy Crab

The best way to eat them is simply steamed- with a sauce of rice vinegar, sugar, and ginger to dip the crab in. 

How to eat Shanghai hairy crab

Shanghai hairy crab or Big sluice crab?

"Hairy crab"in English, is also known as big sluice crab (大閘蟹dà zhá xiè) in local name. Da zha xie and hairy crabs are actually considered two different foods by real Shanghai foodies. Although it falls under same family of hairy crab, only those heavier than 150 grams can be classified as da zha xie. It is one of my favourite autumn delicacy. The best time to eat crab is usually in late September to December when they are freshly caught, while normal hairy crab has eaten year-round in Shanghai. 

How to eat 大閘蟹dà zhá xiè

     Tail: Flip the crab on its back and remove the tail.

Top shell: Remove the top shell. This is where most of the roe is hidden. Pull it back to uncover the bright orange rich roe. Remember to remove the small bones at the top. Scrape all the roe together from the body and shell to collect a spoonful of roe. Add a bit of vinegar mixture.       

                                                                                                                            

Body: Break the body in half. 

Break each half of the body into half again. This opens the little partitions where most of the meat is. Hold the legs of the crab and dip the body into the vinegar mixture. Suck or pick out all the meat. You can spit out the little bits of shell without being rude. 

Legs: Using the end bit of the leg, which is sharp and thin, push through the top part of the remaining leg and you'll find yourself with a nice intact piece of leg meat.

Claws: The claws are the toughest part of the crab. Use the crab-shell cracker (or very strong teeth) to break the claw in half. By using a cracker, you avoid getting too much hair on the claws.

Late night dining spots

Last time I have introduced about some best clubs in Shanghai. Image you've drank and danced and drank and partied and drank till you can drink no more. And then you must eat. Shanghai happily indulges by providing a plethora of restaurants open into the wee hours of the morning.

1. Bao Luo

This restaurant located just around the corner from one of Shanghai’s most pulsating local nightclubs, Bar 88, it’s a nice sit-down alternative to the area’s questionable street food stalls and beggars with monkeys. The shēngjiān mántou, or fried buns stuffed with pork, are the size of a fist and sprinkled with sesame seeds on the crispy bottom for extra crunch. Stir-fried black pepper beef might be labeled “Swiss” on the menu, but the wok-thrown slices of tender meat with a mayo dipping sauce are Shanghainese through and through. 
Address: 271 Fumin Lu, near Changle Lu
Telephone: +86 21 5403 7239 
Hours: 11:30am-3:30pm; 5pm-3am

2. Shouning Lu 

This street is famous for its seafood and stewed crayfish dishes, which are available in three different spice levels, making for a late-night marriage made in heaven when paired with a cold Tsingtao beer. There are many options on the one-block street, most of which are open until 4 a.m.
Address: 45 Shouning Lu, near Xizang Lu 
Hours: noon-6am 

3. Er Guang Hundun

The Pang family has been slinging dumplings to feed the nocturnal scene in Xintiandi for the past 16 years, and shows no signs of slowing down. Lines of a dozen or more people frequently queue up for a to-go container of the signature pork and Chinese mustard green dumplings (芥菜肉混沌, jiècài ròu hùndùn), which swim in a finger-lickingly chopstick-suckingly amazing peanut sauce. 
Address: 209-214 Zhaozhou Lu, near Hefei Lu 
Hours: 6:30pm-3:30am