SHANGHAI SOUP

In Central China, toward the coast, the breakfast that people prefer is 'red soup noodles'. 紅湯麵。A broth flavoured with pork and soy sauce, often with pork meat and a hardboiled egg, and wheat noodles. Which is also a good mid-day snack, as well as a post-dinner late night watching teevee pick-me-up. Daytime temperatures there are presently mid-eighties. Which suggests that a Dutch American whose body does not function well above mid-seventies Fahrenheit should probably NOT visit Shanghai or Nanjing for the time being.
Though I would like to go sometime, and I want those noodles.

The last local Shanghainese restaurant is no more.

Whatever is moving into that space hasn't opened up yet, but it appears to be another fancy attempt to extract money from tourists and other kwailo with an invented subregional cuisine, some of which might be okay. But I'm more interested in some chachantengs (茶餐廳) out in the avenues than that. Or an actual Shanghai soup kitchen.

Braised pork noodle soup is a really Shanghainese dish: 紅燒大排面是真正的上海特色面。

There used to be a small Shanghai noodle soup counter down on Jackson, several years ago. I ate there a number of times. Simple. Unassuming. Splendid.

Actually, there were more Shanghainese in Chinatown then. They've probably all moved out to the avenues, retired, or graduated college. There aren't any Shanghainese eateries within easy distance anymore. It's a fun slightly oily cuisine, great on cold evenings such as we will have in another month.


As I mentioned, The Bund is out of business.
It was a good place while it lasted.
There is nothing else.


And I can't remember when 一品香 closed. That was many years ago.



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